Audi Innovation Award winners selected for presentation at Design Days Dubai 2017

At an intense and lively judging session held at the Audi Showroom in Dubai, 7 of the prestigious panel of 9 judges met to decide on the top 10 designs for the Audi Innovation Award. This ‘first of its kind’ award for Audi in the Middle East, is aimed at regional up and coming designers to stimulate design research and to highlight innovative ideas that will change the future. The purpose of the award is to act as a design and technology industry motivator in the GCC and Levant regions for design innovation.

The panel of judges for the Audi Innovation Award were hand-picked by Audi Middle East together with their partners at Design Days Dubai and Dubai Design Week with one thing in common: the ways in which they have propelled innovation in and beyond their fields.

The Audi Innovation Award judges include Brendan McGetrick, American author, Designer and Curator of Global Grad Show;  Dr. Noah Raford, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Futures Foundation; Mitra Khoubru, Co-founder of Dubai-based Pink Tank; Salem Al Qassimi, Professor of Design, Founder of Fikra, Designer and Entrepreneur;  Amer Aldour, Founder of inter.act, his own interactive design studio in Dubai; Aisha Alsager, Managing Director of AGi Architects from Kuwait; Riyad Jouka, Architect and Researcher for SHoP Architects, Mohammad Saeed Al-Shehhi, Chief Operating Officer of Dubai Design District (d3) and Enrico Atanasio, Brand Director of Audi Middle East.

The top two designs were selected unanimously by all judges and it was then the enviable task of  the last two judges, who were unable to attend the session due to their travel commitments, to make the final decision between the two. Riyad Jouka and Mohammad Saeed Al-Shehhi, determined the third place winner and the remaining 7 submissions that will be presented at Design Days Dubai on 13th March 2017.

When asked to define ‘innovation’, Brendan Mc Getrick, Curator of Global Grad Show, which takes place annually in Dubai, said: “Innovation to me is more a way of thinking than a finished product. The beauty of a truly innovative design is often in its idea, in the impulse that the work responds to and the effectiveness of its answer. A great design delivers both a diagnosis and a cure. It identifies an unseen opportunity or unexpressed need and suggests a solution”. Commenting further on the award itself, he enthused, “It’s a wonderful initiative that I’m sure will benefit everyone involved. I am looking forward to a great partnership with this team of judges as we see our selection of future innovators develop in the future”.

Enrico Atanasio, Brand Director of Audi Middle East, commented  “For me, it was a fascinating experience to be part of a group of experts in their fields of design, art, architecture and education, and for us to determine designs that not only demonstrate significant positive change but that are also authentic and have real opportunities for the future.”

The Audi Innovation Award was announced at Dubai Design Week in October 2016 and entries closed on 17th January 2017. In this, the first year of the award, the brand with the four rings in the Middle East received over 100 hundred submissions to their website http://audiinnovationaward.com. 54 of these entries were approved to meet the criteria of the award and the final 15 were taken for ultimate selection at the judging event itself.

The winning three shortlisted candidates will be given $2,500 to present their concept model at Design Days Dubai 2017. The prizes to the winning designer of the Audi Innovation Award will include a trophy and a trip to the Audi factory in Ingolstadt, Germany to experience the automotive design journey at their company headquarters. In addition, Audi Middle East will award $25,000 worth of consultancy to cover items such as IP registration, legal counselling and business development. The progressive automotive company will work closely with their partners at Design Days Dubai and Dubai Design Week to provide design advice and mentoring to ensure the winning design is protected and given every opportunity for further development.

The next Audi Innovation Award will be announced at Design Days Dubai 2017.