The talented students are Zoe Graham, a fourth-year Bachelor of Engineering student of Product Design at Glasgow School of Art, and Yikuan Zhang, a third-year Bachelor of Arts student studying Automotive and Transportation Design at Coventry University. Having stood out from over 150 students with their eWAV design concepts developed at ‘Design Hacks’ held at their respective universities, they will both receive paid placements at Warwickshire-based design and engineering business CALLUM to help develop and build a working prototype. The students will receive guidance from design director Ian Callum CBE and engineering director Adam Donfrancesco, as well as the support of Motability Operations and insight of its customers.
During the judging process, the teams at CALLUM and Motability Operations were impressed by Zoe’s creativity and how she conveyed her novel solution, which has the potential to create more space for users. Yikuan also piqued the teams’ interest with how he addressed the battery packaging and provided a creative solution with stackable seats. Ian was intrigued by the ingenuity of the solutions suggested by attendees and commented:
“This is an incredibly complex problem that needs to be addressed today to ensure that no one is left behind as the automotive industry moves towards its next electric evolution. It’s incredible to get a glimpse at the next generation of talent and ideas that will soon enter the sector. Both Zoe and Yikuan stood out for their understanding of the brief, their novel and creative ideas, and how well they were able to communicate these. At CALLUM we understand the importance of supporting the next generation of talent, of nurturing the innovators of tomorrow and sharing ideas and knowledge. We are looking forward to working with them to develop a viable, scalable eWAV solution to drive further innovation in the field and support all motorists to make the transition to EVs.”
Andrew Miller, CEO at Motability Operations, says:
“WAVs provide freedom and independence for lots of our Motability Scheme customers every day. Solving this problem is vital, so we can support our WAV drivers when they switch to an electric vehicle in the future.
“Everyone at Motability Operations is excited to see this opportunity come to life and we hope Zoe and Yikuan, along with the team at CALLUM, can develop a working solution for the WAV industry.”
Graham and Zhang will begin work with the CALLUM design and engineering teams in March to develop an eWAV prototype that will be revealed in late autumn 2023.
Check out our video to find out more about this innovation project.
