Arctic Design Awards

INTERNATIONAL DESIGN COMPETITIONS FOR PROMOTING THE COMPETITIVE STATUS OF ENTERPRISES

The design competitions of Arctic Design Week provide enterprises the opportunity to utilise the expertise of design experts and students in promoting the competitiveness of enterprises. For many years now, the design competition has implemented in the industrial design sector.  

The Canadian company BRP Inc. has launched its fifth International Design Competition for the industrial design students in the Arctic regions during Arctic Design Week 2022. 

The Awards Night event also sees the awards given for Arctic Design Intensive Enterprise of the Year 2023, and the Arctic Design Student of the Year 2023. The Arctic Design Lifetime Achievement award is awarded for assiduous and pioneering work where design takes central stage.

Arctic Design Week has appointed an impartial external competition jury to evaluate the winners of the Arctic Design Awards.  The following persons have been invited to the jury by the decision of the Advisory Board:

Design industry experts (4) 

Arni Aromaa, Industrial Designer, CEO Pentagon Design

Päivi Tahkokallio, CEO Tahkokallio Design+

Heikki Hepoaho, Architect, Science Centre Chief, Metsähallitus

Kirsi Svärd, Industrial Designer, Business Coach, Business Joensuu

Other members to be invited to attend the jury (2)

Liisa Ansala, EdD, President, Lapland Chamber of Commerce

Riikka Knuuti, Social Responsibility & Communications Specialist at Anglo American, Member of the Board of Vitality

 

MEET THE MEMBERS OF THE JURY

International Industrial Design Competition

BRP creates innovative ways to move people – on snow, on water, on asphalt or dirt – even in the air.
With its headquarters in the Canadian town of Valcourt, Canada, BRP has been revolutionising the way people travel for decades. Building on a tradition of ingenuity, innovation and intense customer focus that go all the way back to 1937 when BRP was founded. BRP operates manufacturing facilities in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Finland, and Austria and employs around 12,500 people.

BRP’s product portfolio comprises Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo watercraft, Can-Am on and off-road vehicles, Alumacraft boats, Manitou pontoons, Evinrude marine propulsion systems, and Rotax engines. BRP’s design philosophy is to create innovative, practical and exciting products that exceed customer expectations.

The first BRP Design Competition was launched in 2011 and this competition is the fourth in line and now reaches out to six different design schools around the world (Finland, Denmark, the USA and Canada). The winner of the competition will be awarded paid apprenticeship of 4–6 months at BRP’s state-of-the-art Design & Innovation Centre in Canada.

The aim of this year’s competition is to encourage students to seek and create new opportunities for sustainable mobility in areas where climatic conditions in the northern regions pose mobility challenges. The students are given the task of creating an appealing, electrically-powered, safe vehicle, suitable for urban environments for 1+1 persons for launching in 2025.

What is/was the role of Arctic Design Week in the BRP Design Competition? 

Arctic Design Week (ADW) played and continues to play an important role in helping the BRP International Design Competition grow. The competition has benefited from the support of ADW from its very beginning. In fact, ADW was instrumental to the creation of the competition.

ADW has been an incredible platform for BRP’S Chief design Officer, Denys Lapointe, allowing him to connect with the right audience and discuss topics ranging from BRP’s design philosophy to the various social challenges that the competition tried to address through design.

ADW is a meeting place that has given competition finalists and BRP employees a chance to network and have meaningful exchanges with other professionals on topic of interest to the design community and to society.

Finally, ADW’s venue is a source of inspiration for anyone who has a chance to attend! The beauty of the northern climate that we are surrounded with at AWD has inspired and influenced the themes chosen for the design challenges proposed through the competition. ADW remains a key partner for the BRP International Design Competition, and we are proud to once again be on site to announce the names of the winners of our 5th edition and to share in the celebration of Arctic Design Week’s 15th anniversary!

 

In what way has BRP benefited from the competition?

BRP has certainly benefited in tangible ways from the competition. However, the competition is first and foremost a way for us to give back to the design community, and to the communities where our consumers work, and play.

For members of the Design & Innovation team who are involved in the planning of the event, or as mentors or jury members, the competition provides a unique opportunity to support emerging talent and to connect with other members of the design community, including university professors who are shaping future professionals in the field. It’s been interesting to see how the schools’ design thinking approach differ and explore joint solutions that can arise when comparing the Scandinavian and North American school of thoughts.

It is imperative to listen to young people and to the next generation of designers, as they can teach us so much through their distinct thought process, and by highlighting generational preoccupations that can influence our direction in the future. 

Participants’ creative contributions as interns, have also contributed to fueling our team’s passion for what design brings to the world.

Director of design- ja Innovation 
Denys Lapointe

BRP Inc  Canada