2018 Valeo Innovation Challenge: nine teams headed to the final round

Hailing from nine countries on four different continents, the nine finalist teams of the fifth Valeo Innovation Challenge are:

• The team from Cambridge Judge Business School (United Kingdom), with a project for an innovative hydrogen propulsion system
• The team from Strathmore Energy Research Centre (Kenya), with a project for a solar-powered electric transportation solution
• The team from the University of Liège (Belgium), with a project for continuously monitoring blood glucose levels in drivers with diabetes and putting preventive actions in place
• The team from Waseda University (Japan), with a project for a system that can detect the need to switch from automatic to manual driving mode and facilitate this shift for the driver
• The team from the University of Toronto (Canada), with a project to supplement the databases needed for developing autonomous vehicles
• The team from Columbia University (United States), with a project for a system that can generate an alert if a child is left alone in a stationary vehicle and prevent the risk of hyperthermia
• The team from Mines ParisTech (France), with a project for a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system to share information on traffic conditions in real time
• The team from Tongji University (China), with a project for car sharing
• The team from Kookmin University (South Korea), with a project for predicting the trajectories of other vehicles nearby

These nine teams now have until October 11, the date of the final, to develop their start-up project addressing one of the three revolutions disrupting today's automotive industry: vehicle electrification, the autonomous vehicle, and digital mobility. They will receive remote support and advice from a start-up accelerator that will help them to complete their project. The nine finalist teams will have five minutes to win over the jury with a presentation including a video, a prototype, an experiment, or other supporting material.

The jury, made up of business and technology leaders as well as Valeo executives, will select three winning teams to split a prize of 200,000 euros (with one grand prize winner and two runners-up) to help them develop their business. The three young start-ups will also benefit from the hands-on support of Valeo experts.

Enthusiasm for the Valeo Innovation Challenge is as strong as ever in the contest's fifth year, with 3,575 students worldwide and 1,470 teams from 107 countries and 676 universities and schools taking part in the most international edition yet. The Valeo Innovation Challenge is an opportunity for students worldwide to create their own start-up and play an active role in automotive innovation by imagining the technologies and user practices that will shape the car of tomorrow.

For more information: https://valeoinnovationchallenge.valeo.com/