Michelin Announces Winners of 28th Annual College for Creative Studies Design Competition

DETROIT, Mich., Dec. 16, 2016 – The winning entries of the 28th Annual Michelin Challenge Design Competition for the College for Creative Studies (CCS) were honored recently at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education in Detroit, Mich. The winning CCS transportation students received scholarships as part of a $35,000 donation from Michelin to support the school’s Transportation Design program which helps provide financial aid to CCS students.

Seventeen senior CCS transportation students entered this year’s challenge, which was based on the global Michelin Challenge Design theme of “Le Mans 2030 – Design for the Win.”

Students were challenged to create a breakthrough GTE class race car to win the Le Mans 24 Hours in the year 2030. They were encouraged to utilize future-looking technologies, innovations, and pioneering problem solving skills to design a car that reinforces the premium brand image of a company that is either famous for its historical successes, or ready to elevate is brand through a Le Mans 24 Hours win.

The distinguished panel of judges for this year’s event were Clay Dean, design director, global advanced design, General Motors; Craig Metros, design director, North American Exterior, Ford Motor Company; and Nicho Virdas, design manager, SRT, Mopar and Motorsports, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Michelin – CCS Winners
1st – Joe Halaszynski of Lancaster, Pennsylvania with a Dyson branded entry
2nd – Dong Hun Joung of Busan, South Korea with an Audi marque
3rd – Kavish Latif of Agra, India with an Aston Martin marque

“An entry that was inspired by the Dyson brand was totally unexpected and executed beautifully. The thought of taking a vacuum cleaner and turning it into a car was out-of-the-box and I appreciate the level of detail that went into it.” – Nicho Vardis, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

“As a CCS Alumni, I was honored to be invited back to my alma mater as a judge for this competition. I was so impressed with each students design journey, from early quick sketches to a finished scale model. As a designer, reviewing that journey and to see how they resolve issues with a final scale model is a great opportunity to see their concepts and solutions come to life.” – Craig Metros, Ford Motor Company

In addition to the three winners, the judges recognized two additional entries for honorable mentions: Alejandro Lozano-Robledo of Bogota, Colombia with a Pagani marque; and Lucas Sein of Atlanta, Georgia with a Tesla marque.

“Le Mans 2030 has been a very powerful and popular theme. The entries from the global competition and the CCS competition both provided insightful and innovative designs to showcase race cars of the future,” said Thom Roach, vice president of original-equipment marketing, Michelin North and South America. “The GTE entries are derived from production based vehicles, so it was quite interesting to see how the CCS students successfully carried iconic design elements from current vehicles forward to 2030 while integrating innovative future technologies for both production and race vehicles.”



The 2018 Michelin Challenge Design theme “Mobility, Utility, Flexibility: Designing for the Next Global Revolution”, invites participants to create the next revolutionary pickup truck, or open-bedded vehicle. Entrants can now register at www.michelinchallengedesign.com.

About Michelin North America
Dedicated to the improvement of sustainable mobility, Michelin designs, manufactures and sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles, bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks and motorcycles. The company has earned a long-standing reputation for building innovative premium tires. Since 1989, Michelin has received 80 J.D. Power tire customer satisfaction awards – five times the number of all other tire manufacturers combined. In addition to tires, the company also publishes travel guides, hotel and restaurant guides, maps and road atlases. Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America (www.michelinman.com) employs about 22,700 and operates 19 major manufacturing plants.

For more information and images, visit: //www.michelinchallengedesign.com/the-challenge-archives/2017-design-for-the-win/2017-college-for-creative-studies-designs/ or contact:

Brian Remsberg
Michelin North America
office: 864.458.5908
mobile: 864.561.7459
brian.remsberg@us.michelin.com