Valeo has announced the seven teams selected by its experts to present their projects to a jury in Paris on October 16, 2014, with the chance of winning the €100,000 (Rs 78.60 lakh) first prize.

The shortlisted teams represent six countries from four continents: Australia, Germany, the United States, Brazil, Canada and India. For India, the Falcons team from the Vellore Institute of Technology has been shortlisted.

Nearly 1,000 teams from 55 countries signed up for a chance to propose and develop daring solutions that will revolutionise the automobile of 2030.

Many original, varied and innovative projects, including some of outstanding quality, were examined by Valeo experts. The technical solutions proposed by the contestants are illustrative of each country’s prevailing societal concerns. For example, the Indian engineering students are focusing on road safety, while the European students, like their North American peers, are more concerned about reducing carbon emissions and creating a smart, connected and autonomous vehicle. Across the board, they are working to make the car of 2030 a cleaner, safer and more enjoyable ride.

The seven finalist teams are:

Australia: UTS Unleashed Team from the University of Technology Sydney.
Brazil: Sadec Team from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
Canada: Three VeMAColleagues from the University of Waterloo.
Canada: UOttawa team from the University of Ottawa.
Germany: AEM team from the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie.
India: Falcons Team from the Vellore Institute of Technology
USA: CU ICAR team from Clemson University.

Each team will present their project to the Challenge jury on October 16 in conjunction with the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

Jacques Aschenbroich, Valeo CEO and Guillaume Devauchelle, vice-president, Group Innovation and Scientific Development, will announce the winners at a press conference attended by the students on Friday, October 17 at 9:00 a.m. at the Maison de La Recherche in Paris.

The jury, which is comprised of Valeo executives and outside partners, will be chaired by Mr Aschenbroich. The winning team will take home a €100,000 prize and the second- and third-place teams will each receive €10,000. 

Launched by Valeo in September 2013, the Valeo Innovation Challenge is a global contest open to engineering students around the world, who are invited to play an active role in automobile innovation by designing the product or system that will create smarter, more intuitive cars by 2030.

Valeo will kick off the next Valeo Innovation Challenge for students worldwide at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.