Two summer competitions for students with innovative ideas and creative skills:

Autocar Next Gen award

The Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award is a national competition to identify, support and develop top automotive talent of the future in which entrants from UK universities are invited to answer the brief below as set by Autocar’s editor-in­-chief Steve Cropley. The winner will receive £7,500 and one month’s work experience at each of the leading automotive organisations supporting the award: McLaren Automotive, Jaguar Land Rover, Peugeot, Skoda and Toyota. 

The Brief

‘Describe, in no more than 500 words, an idea, innovation or change to corporate policy that would improve the UK automotive business. The idea could work in any area of the automotive business, from concept through to the sales showroom and the aftermarket. You will need to demonstrate how your idea could be put into action and the advantages it would bring.’ Submissions are welcomed from all degree disciplines and special credit will be given for originality.

Apply by 1 September. Find out more and register for information at http://www.autocar.co.uk/nextgenerationaward?utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=Promotional&utm_source=April%2011,%202014&utm_content=link1_readmore

Win a summer internship at Sharp Laboratories, Oxford

The internship offers one lucky student or recent graduate a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop their idea for the home of the future into a reality, with an internship at Sharp’s Research and Development Centre, Sharp Laboratories of Europe in Oxford, UK. Every day, scientists at Sharp Laboratories work to come up with new ideas and technologies that can benefit society. The lab is responsible for cutting edge innovations such as mobile LCD technology, smart cards, DualView, the ‘lab in the palm of your hand’ and many others that push the boundaries of the future and allow for intelligent living.

To enter sketch your idea for the home of the future: this could be anything from centralised and automated control of all appliances, voice activated lighting or something that would help with the energy efficiency of a house. Take a photo of your sketch and share it on Twitter with the hashtag #GetItDownOnPaper. Competition open 16 June – 25 July, winner announced 1 August on Sharp’s blog, www.HumansInvent.com. The placement will take place 18 August – 12 September. For more information, visit www.humansinvent.com.