Goodyear and Case Western Reserve Launch Intelligent Tire Innovation Competition

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, along with the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, is sponsoring a business design and innovation competition to redefine the tire for the IoT.

The Goodyear Innovation Challenge invites teams of four to five business school graduate students to submit an intelligent tire business case by October 10 in response to a design brief for the chance to compete in a two-day hackathon at Case Western Reserve's Larry Sears and Sally Zlotnick Sears think[box], a center for innovation and entrepreneurship.

“There is no question that you can improve vehicle performance by adding intelligence to tires – it’s already happening,” said Jim Euchner, VP, global innovation, Goodyear. “The question is: what are you sensing, and how do you integrate that data with the vehicle in a way that adds value not only for the automaker, but also for the driver?”

Five team proposals will be selected to participate in the November 10 to 11 hackathon in Cleveland, where students will be asked to design a service by validating user needs, brainstorming concepts, prototyping the best fit, and developing “back of the envelope” business model calculations.

“This is not like the typical app development contest,” said Youngjin Yoo, Professor, design and innovation, Case Western Reserve. “We are seeing a moment where an industry is literally being reimagined. It is as real as it gets when it comes to digital innovation.”

A jury of Goodyear executives and Weatherhead professors will select the first, second and third place winners for awards of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000, respectively. In addition, the first place team will have the opportunity to interview for a position on Goodyear's global innovation team.

For more information, including rules and how to submit a team proposal, click here.