CNH Industrial Awards Royal College of Art Students for Innovative Designs

CNH and the RCA recently awarded students for their designs of innovative, sustainable machinery for use in emerging markets.

The overall winner was Austin Dewees for his Wet and Dry concept in the Urban Flow category.
The overall winner was Austin Dewees for his Wet and Dry concept in the Urban Flow category.
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CNH Industrial held a joint event with the Royal College of Art (RCA) to award students participating in a project to design innovative and sustainable machinery for emerging markets. The event was held on May 10 at the RCA in London, United Kingdom. The collaboration highlights CNH Industrial’s commitment to promoting growth and development opportunities for young talent and investing in product innovation, and research and development projects to work towards a sustainable future.

Some 30 students from the RCA’s vehicle and service design programs were challenged to develop innovative industrial products and services to match local needs and existing infrastructure in developing nations. The aim was to create a concept that would succeed in low capital, low income and low skills environments through ease of low cost manufacturing, maintenance and sustainable local use.

The students concepts targeted four distinct design categories. The Automark group focused on identifying a commercial need and designing a vehicle that is easy to make, maintain and operate, that will generate brand value. Inside Out covered isolating rescue priorities, and designing a vehicle that is simple to understand, operate and apply, that will harness local materials. The Urban Flow category required the students to explore basic passenger and goods journey needs, and design a vehicle that will improve the quality of life for local people. Service Design required the students to recognize opportunities to enhance efficiency within the markets and develop an easy and sustainable solution to help users.

A winner was selected from each category:

  • Automark - Jonathan Stoker for his compost production system project;
  • Inside Out - Stavros Mavrakis for his hovercraft rescue vehicle;
  • Urban Flow - Austin Dewees for his wet and dry season transport vehicle project;
  • Service Design - Harsh Kumar for his BUG-E modular electric cart and dedicated digital platform for rural farmers.

The overall winner, selected from these four projects, was Austin Dewees, for his wet and dry season transport vehicle.

David Wilkie, Head of Design at CNH Industrial, together with the CNH Industrial Design team, selected the winners. Wilkie graduated from the RCA with a Master’s Degree in Automotive Design. He has held design roles of increasing responsibility throughout his career, joining CNH Industrial in 2014 to lead the Design Teams for the company’s four segments: Agricultural Equipment, Construction Equipment, Commercial Vehicles and Powertrain.

The Royal College of Art is the world’s foremost art and design postgraduate university. The academic structure of the college is based on six schools offering 27 distinct programs with associated research activities. The college has centers that focus on research, business links, innovation, development and enterprise. Notable alumni include Sir James Dyson, industrial designer and founder of Dyson, and Thomas Heatherwick, CBE, RDI, founder of the London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio.

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