Ford Innovation Symposium features Iain Roberts

Iain Roberts

Approximately 150 individuals attended the 2009 Ford Innovation Symposium, Oct. 15 at UDM to hear innovation expert Iain Roberts speak on "The Design of Experiences and the Use of Design Thinking as Tools to Develop and Deliver against Strategic Business Goals." Roberts is an associate partner of IDEO, a design and innovation firm that helps design products, services, environments, and digital experiences for businesses as well as provides management consulting.

His duties encompass building client relationships across industries, which include telecommunications, consumer electronics, transportation and financial services. He also works with project teams on designs that are relevant to the consumer public. Roberts graduated with an M.A. in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art and Bachelor's in Aeronautical Engineering from Southampton University.

In his talk, Roberts spoke about the strategies used to comply with specific business goals. His work with AT&T and the in-vehicle experience with Ford demonstrate his expertise in the field. For his complete talk, see the UDMcast.

Ford Innovation Symposium presenters: (from left) UDM President Gerard L. Stockhausen, S.J.; Ford Group Vice President for Global Product Development Derrick Kuzak '73, '74, '76; IDEO Associate Partner Iain Roberts and E&S Dean Leo Hanifin.

At the symposium, winners of the UDM/Ford Innovation Contest were also announced. Eight undergraduate student teams competed in the contest, which required teams to develop a three-minute digital presentation on a possible application for use with Ford's SYNC system, the Bluetooth system developed by Ford Motor Company and Microsoft. The first place prize was awarded to a team of Architecture students: Jeffrey Harris, Christopher Petzak, Dean Storm and Derek Wendt, who developed ideas for the next "killer app" in Ford's SYNC system and pitched it in a three-minute video. The team won a trip to IDEO's offices in Chicago to participate in an IDEO design team and to learn more about the IDEO process.

Ford Group Vice President for Global Product Development Derrick Kuzak '73, '74, '76 (left) and E&S Dean Leo Hanifin (right) congratulate Ford Innovation Contest winning team members (from left to right) Derek Wendt, Dean Storm, Christopher Petzak. Team member Jeffrey Harris is not pictured.

Second place went to a team of Engineering and Business students: Hernan Garza, Robert Isley, Mike Popovski, Ryan Richards and Tom Lorenzo. Third place was awarded to John Dwyer, Jordan Houtby, Russell Kovar and Jeremy Stoychoff. These teams received a two-day immersion in Ford's Special Vehicle Team, participating in vehicle design meetings and activities.

All engineering students who were on the top two teams were also offered paid internships at Ford Motor Company.

The contest teams were judged by leaders at Ford and IDEO, UDM faculty and Mark Phelan, automotive critic and a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. The contest was sponsored by Ford, UDM and IDEO.