Magna Turns to Public for Safety Ideas

Much of the talk about autonomous vehicles has centered on improved safety for motorists, in fact, some federal officials believe the technology could reduce highway fatalities to nearly zero in the years ahead.

Even without including the potential of self-driving cars, today’s vehicles are laden with technology that make them safer than ever. However, despite that deaths on America’s roadways are on the rise for the first time in more than a decade.

Automakers and suppliers continue to look for ways to make cars safer and one supplier is trying an outside-the-box effort to find the latest good idea for automotive safety.

Magna is launching its “Innovation for the Open Road: Safer Mobility for the Future” contest, a competition challenging the public, inventors, creators and everyday commuters to share their ideas on ways to further improve vehicle safety.

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“Magna has a history of turning ideas into industry standards,” said Swamy Kotagiri, Magna chief technology officer. “This contest is a great opportunity for inventive minds to collaborate with us to bring their safety innovations to market.”

Through the public competition, Magna is looking for groundbreaking ideas that it can help bring to the road to create an even safer experience for drivers, passengers and pedestrians. The supplier wants contestants to put their ideas on paper: a 500-word essay to be exact.

The submission, which is due by May 30, must describe an idea that has the potential to improve vehicle safety. Essays should be submitted at www.magnachallenge.com. Qualifying submissions will be evaluated by Magna and outside automotive-industry judges, with the top seven entries announced on July 5, the supplier said.

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Those seven finalists will then pitch their ideas in person on July 27 before a panel of industry leaders and experts at Magna’s U.S. headquarters in Troy, Michigan, and will have the chance to win part of a $100,000 prize pool, with the first place winner taking home $50,000.

The prize money is really an investment in the supplier’s effort to find and develop new technologies to the new vehicles and the supplier’s had some success in working outside of its corporate walls.

Magna has expanded its innovation activities to include venture-capital investments in technology start-ups, sponsorship of a technology accelerator, collaboration with universities and technical colleges, as well as innovation challenges for students and employees.

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For instance, the company co-sponsors and works closely with Techstars Mobility, Driven by Detroit, a mentorship-driven technology accelerator company; has held student innovation challenges at the 2015 and 2016 CES tradeshows, as well as the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show; and engaged its global employee base in company-wide innovation contests.