Michelin CEO sees opportunity for 'innovation incubator'

DETROIT (Jan. 12, 2016) — Group Michelin CEO Jean Dominique Senard is pushing for his company to tap into the collective knowledge and talent of the Michelin Design Challenge winners and judges from the past 20-plus years by fostering an incubator-type online community.

Speaking at the awards ceremony for the 2016 Michelin Design Challenge winners, Mr. Senard made a public appeal to his colleagues and those involved in the annual competition to get involved in his incubator concept, saying many of the challenge design goals of the past address many of the aspects of Michelin's “sustainable mobility” corporate philosophy.

When asked afterward whether he thought some of the concepts entered in the competition could be developed into commercial products, Mr. Senard said, “Absolutely. We want to truly encourage innovation among these talented individuals.”

Mr. Senard said Michelin already has a small team at the company dedicated to the Design Challenge, and he expects this could serve as the base for developing the innovation incubator he envisages.

The ability to communicate globally almost at will should make the project feasible and advance it quickly.

The theme of the Design Challenge 2017 is "Le Mans 2030: Design for the Win."

The portfolio for this challenge calls for entrants to create a breakthrough race car to win the Le Mans 24 Hours in the year 2030.

Entrants are encouraged to utilize future-looking technologies, innovations, and pioneering problem solving skills to design a car that reinforces the premium brand image of a company that is either famous for its historical successes, or ready to elevate its brand through a Le Mans 24 Hours win.

Michelin is going for its 25th win this year at the annual 24-hour race in France.

In recent years, Le Mans organizers have pushed for significant reductions in fuel, energy and tire usage, Michelin noted, an approach that inspired the creation of Audi's diesel and diesel hybrid technologies, Toyota's ultra-capacitor hybrid, Porsche's V4 hybrid, the radical DeltaWing and Nissan's GTR-LM concepts.