Kenya takes top honors in the 2018 Valeo Innovation Challenge

Jacques Aschenbroich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Valeo, revealed this evening the winning teams of the 2018 edition of the Valeo Innovation Challenge at a ceremony at the Maison de la Recherche in Paris.

The team from Strathmore Energy Research Centre (Kenya) was awarded the grand prize of 100,000 euros with a solar-powered transportation device which also brings power to vast rural areas and economically empowers people.

Joining the team from Strathmore Energy Research Centre on the podium were the team from Cambridge Judge Business School (United Kingdom), with a project for an innovative hydrogen propulsion system, and the team from the University of Liège (Belgium), with a project for continuously monitoring blood glucose levels in diabetic drivers. Both were awarded 50,000 euros each.

During the grand final, the nine finalist teams (see list below) were asked to present their start-up project addressing one of the three revolutions disrupting today’s automotive industry: powertrain electrification, the autonomous vehicle, and digital mobility.

Each team had five minutes to win over the Valeo Innovation Challenge jury, which was made up of members of the Group’s Management team as well as eminent scientists and business leaders such as Claudie Haigneré and Etienne Klein (see jury members below).

For 15 weeks, the nine finalist teams received support and advice from a start-up accelerator to help them complete their project.

Enthusiasm for the Valeo Innovation Challenge, which is now in its fifth year, was stronger than ever, with participation at a record high. A total of 3,575 students and 1,740 teams from 107 countries and 676 universities and schools signed up to compete.

According to Jacques Aschenbroich, “the Valeo Innovation Challenge is a unique opportunity for students worldwide to contribute to the development of the car of tomorrow and to bring their innovations to life by launching their start-up.”

Over the last five years, nearly 20,000 students and more than 6,700 teams from 3,000 universities and schools have taken part in the Valeo Innovation Challenge.

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

2018 finalist teams:

• 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/Harvard 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

Members of the jury:

• Jacques Aschenbroich, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Valeo Group, and Chairman of the jury.
• Claudie Haigneré, President of Universcience, the first French woman to visit the International Space Station, former Minister Delegate for Research and New
• Technologies and former Minister Delegate for European Affairs.
• Etienne Klein, Research Director at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’Énergie atomique et aux Énergies alternatives – CEA), member of the National Academy of Technologies of France (Académie des Technologies) and professor in quantum physics at École Centrale.
• André Chieng, Chairman of Asiatique Européenne de Commerce, Vice Chairman of the France-China Committee and foreign trade advisor for France in China.
  Yotam Cohen, co-founder and head of the R&D department of Wibbitz, a start-up that has developed an application that automatically turns any article or publication into a video summary.
• Gérard Feldzer, Chairman of the Ile-de-France Regional Tourism Committee and member of its Transportation and Mobility Committee, consultant, columnist, former airline pilot with Air France and former President of the French Air and Space Museum.
• Christophe Perillat, Chief Operating Officer, Valeo Group.
• Guillaume Devauchelle, Vice-President, Innovation & Scientific Development, Valeo Group.
• Hans-Peter Kunze, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Business Development, Valeo Group.

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