Faurecia Announces Internship Winner at NAIAS as Part of the Car Design News-GM Interactive Design Competition

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Faurecia (http://www.faurecia.com), the world's sixth-largest automotive supplier, and Car Design News today announced the winners of the GM interactive design competition in an award ceremony at the North American International Auto Show 2012 (NAIAS). Brook Banham, a master's student at the College of Creative Studies, was selected by Faurecia as its internship winner based on his GMC interior and exterior concepts. Banham has been awarded the opportunity to work at a Faurecia design studio in North America, Europe or Asia.

When looking at all the submissions, Faurecia focused on the entrants' care for details, color and material solutions, research of perceived value, problem-solving ability, ingenuity, innovation, surprise, presentation quality and story-telling.

"We choose Brook Banham as our internship winner based on his exceptional rendering technique, his ability to tell a story through his design and his successful integration of the GMC brand," said Faurecia Industrial Design Manager for North and South America, Olivier Boinais. "Brook was very receptive to the feedback given to him during the competition and was able to advance his designs and as a result, secure a great opportunity to further develop his talents during an internship with Faurecia."

More than 300 design students from across the U.S. and Canada entered the Car Design News – GM Interactive Design Competition, launched in the spring of 2011. Entrants were challenged to design both an interior and an exterior design for one of GM's four brands – Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC, each of which presented a unique brief. As a sponsor of the contest, designers from Faurecia mentored students over a period of months for each phase of the competition to help each entrant improve his or her design in an interactive and open process through a dedicated website.

"As an experienced product designer, this competition was a great way to challenge my design skills and the mentoring provided by Faurecia was fundamental to my success in the competition," said Brook Banham, Faurecia internship winner. "I am looking forward to furthering my industrial design skills and working closely with the talented designers at Faurecia."

To view video live from the conference click here. 

As part of the contest, a total of 10 internships were awarded from GM, Faurecia and Dassault Systemes. The winners were announced on Jan. 10 during NAIAS for each brand, which awarded each of them a paid internship and an iPad 2. Selection criteria focused on the quality and innovation of each entry, the improvement and refinement of each student's design achieved during the mentoring phase and the level of engagement and interaction they had with the professional mentoring and jury team. The full list of winners can be found on the Car Design Contest website.

Three students for each brand were shortlisted as finalists in both the interior and exterior categories, totaling 24 students.  All were invited to attend the award ceremony in the Cadillac exhibit during the auto show's Press Preview.

The winners' work is part of a dedicated display in the GM exhibit at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit through January 22.

About Faurecia North America
Faurecia North America had sales of $3.4 billion in 2010. The Group has 33 production sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico and employs more than 15,000 people in the region. It has five technical and development centers, situated in Auburn Hills (2), Holland and Troy, Mich., and in Columbus, Ind., as well as a customer center in Toledo, Ohio.

For the latest updates on Faurecia activities throughout North America, connect with the company at http://www.facebook.com/faureciaNA and http://www.twitter.com/faurecia_NA.

About Faurecia
Faurecia is the world's sixth-largest automotive supplier with four key Business Groups: Automotive Seating, Emissions Control Technologies, Interior Systems and Automotive Exteriors. In 2010, the Group posted total sales of $18.22 billion. The company is headquartered in Nanterre, France, with its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. It employs 75,000 people in 33 countries at 238 sites and 38 R&D centers. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange. For more information, visit: www.faurecia.com.

SOURCE Faurecia