CNH Industrial — maker of commercial vehicles, agricultural and construction equipment — recently sponsored a project at the Royal College of Art (RCA) that asked students to design innovative and sustainable machinery for emerging markets.
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 goal 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 collaboration aimed to showcased 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.
The student’s concepts targeted four distinct design categories:
The Automark group focused on identifying a commercial need. The goal was to design a vehicle that was easy to build, maintain and operate while generating brand value. Jonathan Stoker’s compost production system project (above) was chosen as the category winner.
The Inside Out group covered isolating rescue priorities, and focused on designing a vehicle that was simple to understand, operate and apply in local materials. Stavros Mavrakis’ hovercraft rescue vehicle (above) emerged as te most successful interpretation of the brief.
The Urban Flow category required students to explore basic passenger and goods journey needs. The group’s task was to design a vehicle that will improve the quality of life for local people. Austin Dewees’ wet and dry season transport vehicle project (above) was singled out as the winner.
Students on the Service Design program were asked to recognize opportunities to enhance efficiency within the markets and develop an easy and sustainable solution to help users. Harsh Kumar was awarded for his BUG-E modular electric cart (above) and dedicated digital platform for rural farmers.
The winners were selected by David Wilkie — Head of Design at CNH Industrial and an RCA grad himself — together with the CNH Industrial Design team. The overall winner, selected from these four projects, was Urban Flow’s Austin Dewees.
