Ford Holding Innovation Contest to Solve Mobility Issues
Ford Silicon Valley Lab is hoping to explore mobility issues facing communities around the world.
The American automaker has announced the Innovate Mobility Challenge Series, inviting the developer and “maker” communities to help discover and solve mobility solutions in eight different locations around the world: Lisbon, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Shanghai, Johannesburg and Argentina.
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For each competition, the company will partner with local authorities and experts to address different issues at the respective location. Each contest will be judged by a panel of Ford executives involved in research mobility solutions in addition to local experts.
Those in the U.S. will want to check out the Los Angeles Parking Lots 2.0 Challenge that hopes to take parking into the 21st century by rethinking and repurposing outdoor surface parking lots in order to increase their variety of uses and aesthetic value. The submission period for the LA challenge will run from July 15 to October 14, with winners announced in November.
The challenges in Mumbai, Lisbon and Los Angeles will offer prizes totaling $30,000 for each challenge, with a grand prize of $15,000 for the winner of each. In the Argentina challenge, the winner will receive a scholarship for an Entrepreneur Postgraduate at an Argentine university and a trip to the U.S. to meet Ford mobility engineers as well as attending the Detroit Auto Show. The prizes for the remaining challenges will be announced at a future date.
“Reaching out to local stakeholders lets Ford more effectively address the diverse mobility challenges around the world,” said Paul Mascarenas, Ford’s chief technical officer and vice president, Research and Innovation. “Launching our Innovate Mobility Challenge Series in eight different regions will bring global and local players together in the pursuit of one goal, which is a smarter and more efficient transportation network for the future.”
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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