News Release

UDM/Ford Innovation Winners Announced

The winners of the University of Detroit Mercy/Ford Innovation Contest at UDM were announced on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. during the Ford Innovation Symposium in the Life Science Building.

The contest was established by Ford Motor Company and Microsoft to challenge UDM students in creating unique new applications for the SYNC Bluetooth system.

Teams consisted of three to five full-time undergraduate students from all majors. Each team was asked to create a three-minute video in simulation form that presented the SYNC application they had created. The panel of judges consisted of leaders from Ford and IDEO, a design and innovation consultancy firm, UDM faculty members and a Detroit automotive journalist.

The winning teams are as follows:

First Place—“Architects!!!”

Jeffrey Harris (Troy, MI)

Christopher Petzak (Rockford, MI)

Dean Storm (Royal Oak, MI)

Derek Wendt (Grand Rapids, MI)

Second Place—“Two EE, Two ME, One Business”

Hernan Garza (Detroit, MI)

Robert Isley (Milford, Mi)

Mike Popovski (Shelby Township, MI)

Ryan Richards (Grosse Pointe Woods, mi)

Tom Lorenzo (Avon, OH)

Third Place—Unnamed Team

John Dwyer (Novi, MI)

Jordan Houtby (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada)

Russel Kovar (Fort Gratiot, MI)

Jeremy Stoychoff (Canton, MI)

Prizes included a two-day visit to IDEO in Chicago and a two-day immersion in Ford’s Special Vehicle Team.

Release date: November 01, 2009

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