A car that can take off vertically has won first place in the UTC concept cars competition.

Juliette from SGS Berkeley Green UTC has been named as the winner of the UTC Concept Car Competition for her striking design entitled VTOL Drone (pictured top).

What stood out for judges was the design communication within the concept. One of the competition judges Paul Jones, Chief Executive of the Northern Automotive Alliance, said: “The level of detail and clarity of the communication on this entry were first class. Juliette also thought about the wider ecosystem including carbon reduction through vertical take off and landing, not needing to build runways, etc. She took a holistic view of the whole design.”

In second place was Henrique from Liverpool Life Sciences UTC who designed the Cronos Explorer, designed to drive on another planet. Pete Simpson, Lecturer in engineering design and industry engagement at University College London, who also judged, said that Henrique’s design stood out as having a very clear workflow and that he wished that some of his students had this clarity of vision in their work.

In third place was Albert from Berkeley Green UTC who designed Legasus, a walking vehicle. Dan Howard, coordinator of the competition, said that this design gained high scores in part for the impressive animations that accompanied it.

Thanks to all UTCs that entered, judges Georgina Phillips CDLP from Williams Racing, Paul Jones from Northern Automotive Alliance, Nathan Rogers from Autodesk, Peter Simpson from UCL and especially to the CADCAM Educators Hub for organising this competition.