SEAT and the Barcelona University School of Design and Engineering, Elisava, are strengthening their collaboration with a steady commitment to design and engineering talent to study the future of mobility in Spain. Over the past three years, 51 udergraduate Engineering and Design students of Elisava have developed 16 projects defined by SEAT dealing with this topic.

Throughout their three years of collaboration, the students had the opportunity to present their value proposals related with “Autonomous car and future mobility” (2017); “SEAT CarSharing 2025” (2018); and “SEAT Future Vision 2030” (2019). Their study programme was carried out with CARNET, the research and innovation hub that focusses on studying the urban mobility in Barcelona.

SEAT Design director Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos emphasised that “SEAT is strongly committed to promoting young talent and this collaboration enables us to be in direct contact with future designers and engineers. The quality of the projects presented demonstrates the great potential of the Elisava students.”

Young talent perfectly adapts to the new fields of research into the design process that did not exist until now, such as the user experience or interior design simulation, for example. For this reason, after getting to know the students while they are developing their projects, every year SEAT gives some of them the opportunity to join its grant programme. The challenge that SEAT will launch for the 2019-2020 course will be announced next October.

Elisava general director Javier Peña said that “partnering with SEAT as a collaborating company is a great satisfaction and an opportunity for the students to work on real challenges launched by a benchmark company in its sector, and under the constant supervision of active professionals.”

University-Business, a pairing of talent and innovation

The collaboration between Elisava and SEAT is framed within the agreement carried out by the school with the business and institutional environment to add value through research and innovation projects developed by the students. In this case, all work is done through CARNET, the ‘Future Mobility Research Hub’ promoted by SEAT, the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) and Volkswagen Group Research, focussing on future urban mobility.

With these agreements, the students, who are steadily tutored by professionals in the sector and professors of the school, have the opportunity to work in real-life business environments beyond the education they receive. Furthermore, the businesses and institutions make use of the students’ talents and participate in the development of innovative projects that they spearhead, with a focus on engineering, creativity and design.

Winning projects

Of all the projects presented at this year’s edition, SEAT acknowledges those it considers the most innovative:

• 2018-19 course challenge: SEAT Future Vision 2030 
  Best Global project: SEAT #MIZONA
  In a future scenario where it is expected that it will be increasingly difficult for young people to get ahead in the world, engineering and design students Pol Balanzó, Marc García Cabau, Louis Gauthier, and Pere Serrat created the SEAT #MIZONA project. This model features a passenger compartment interior that will become the first emancipation capsule where they can develop personally in a responsible but youthful manner surrounded by technology; a space in which the user can drive the vehicle, work and have access to entertainment as well as broaden their social horizons.

• 2017-18 course challenge: SEAT CarSharing 2025
  First prize: Work & Relax
  Marina Fuentes, Lucas García and Mario Sabaté are the three students who came up with the Work & Relax project, a carsharing service aimed at getting the most out of your time spent commuting, where users can take advantage of their trip to work and relax.
  
  
• 2017-18 course challenge: SEAT CarSharing 2025
  Best User Experience project: FAMiiLY
  Famiily is an interior design proposal aimed at families who need new ways to get around in their everyday lives. The project seeks to get users who are parents to commit to ride sharing in order to strengthen a sense of community, trust and safety in the Barcelona of the future. This project is the brainchild of Margarita Torrens, Carolina Vilchez and Laia Yu.
  
  
• 2017-18 course challenge: SEAT CarSharing 2025
  Best innovation project: Set Mii Free
  Maria Rey, Xavi Maixenchs and Olga Sanchís proposed a carsharing vehicle aimed at young people who are earning their first wages and want to get the most out of the weekend and fully enjoy their free time. The initiative enables the owner to make extra money from their vehicle by offering it to other users. The car features an extremely versatile interior design thanks to a dynamic surface that functions via artificial intelligence, integrating devices such as rubber pistons to hold luggage securely in place, folding seats or a display panel.
  
  
• 2016-17 course challenge: Autonomous Car Interior Design. Autonomous car and future mobility: OM
  This future proposal, designed by Omar Paul, Emerson Blanco and Marc Cosculluela, features a vehicle intended for long trips by a single person which maximises rest and relaxation.