Ground-breaking innovations is what the Toyota Logistic Competition 2024 is hoping to uncover. Hosted by Toyota Material Handling, applications are now being accepted from the undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in university programs from around the world. Ideas to improve the circular economy through logistics are being requested.
“The Toyota Logistic Design Competition is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for future innovators to showcase their unique skills in design and engineering and create solutions that will have a long-lasting impact on business and logistics,” said Brett Wood, president & CEO of Toyota Material Handling North America, in a statement. “The imaginative concepts the participants create each year are always impressive and inspiring.”
Toyota, founded on the principle of contributing to society, views this competition as a way of engaging and fostering the next generation of designers and instilling a commitment to serve the communities around them. This year’s participants are challenged to focus on developing solutions for the future that improve lives, minimize waste and use resources in a way that has little impact on the environment.
“I was honored to join my colleagues at Logiconomi 2022, [a forum where leaders and experts in logistics gather to discuss current trends and new concepts to improve the industry], concluding our global Toyota Logistic Design Competition with the award ceremony,” said Ian Carabiano, vice president of advanced design at Toyota Motor Corp., in a statement.
“Although it was a challenge to select our winners from the amazing proposals from all the talented designers of the future, working together, we chose four that represented an innovative future vision of logistics. I had the distinct pleasure to select and bestow the Ian Cartabiano Design Award to Marius Cramer from Umeå Institute of Design in Sweden. This award acknowledges design that is not only innovative and creative but also beautifully executed with an eye towards refined esthetics. Marius’s cargo bike proposal created a solution for last-mile, point-to-point delivery, and looked amazing. Along with this award, Marius was also given the opportunity to experience a design internship at Toyota Europe Design Development. I look forward to this year’s global design competition and working with my global colleagues to find the next generation of creative thinkers.”
A panel of professionals working around design and innovation within Toyota will evaluate all entries and determine the finalists. The winner in each category of the competition will receive a cash prize. The winner and finalists’ submissions will be displayed during Milano Design Week and at the 2024 Paris Olympic-Paralympic Event. The deadline to submit is Monday, December 18, 2023.
This is the third year the Toyota Logistic Design Competition is welcoming students from universities in the United States. In 2022, two students representing universities from the United States received top awards. Jacob Abraham, a student at the University of Houston, received the Gold Award for Oro, a delivery module that optimizes final-mile delivery vehicles in dense urban environments. Nicholas Orie, a student from California State University, received the Bronze Award for his Toyota Mitsubachi solution, a modular, autonomous drone fleet integrated in warehouses and micro hubs that is designed to streamline the process of handling and organizing goods.
“North America was well represented with the Gold and Bronze awards this past year,” noted Greg Smiley, head of industrial design at Toyota Material Handling North America. “Models of the winning designs were on display, and I know it was a great experience and networking opportunity for Jacob to receive his award at Logiconomi 2022 in Antwerp, Belgium.”
