Edmunds.com Invites Submissions for Unintended Acceleration Contest, Announces Advisors
May 3, 2010 — Santa Monica, CA — Today, Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, has opened the submission process for its Unintended Acceleration Contest at http://www.edmunds.com/contest.
"Recently, prize-driven open innovation initiatives have been shown to be excellent ways to drive real breakthrough solutions to some of the toughest challenges," commented Kevin Stark of NineSigma, Inc., who earned his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and is serving as an advisor for the contest. "This particular opportunity potentially enables a more rapid resolution to this important safety issue by leveraging the expertise of the global science and innovation community."
Edmunds.com's contest advisors include:
- Dr. Glenn Bower, University of Wisconsin-Madison Mechanical Engineering professor; EcoCAR faculty advisor
- Dr. Zac Chambers, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Mechanical Engineering professor and Inaugural Director of the Advanced Transportation Systems Program; EcoCAR faculty advisor
- Ron DeFore, Stratacomm Principal and Senior Partner; former NHTSA Director of Public and Consumer Affairs (during the investigation of unintended acceleration in Audis)
- Les Jackson, CruiseControlRadio.com Co-Host; mechanical engineer
- Dr. Kevin Stark, NineSigma, Inc. Engagement Manager; electrical engineer
- Paul Stupay, MBA, NineSigma, Inc. Executive Vice President
- Jason Vines, former Vice President of Ford Motor Company (during the Ford/Firestone rollover crisis); former Vice President of Chrysler LLC (during the investigation of unintended acceleration in Jeep Grand Cherokees)
Edmunds.com intends to award one million dollars to anyone who demonstrates a novel and plausible cause of unintended acceleration in vehicles. Each applicant must submit the nature of the conditions believed to cause unintended acceleration to occur together with, among other items, a test protocol that will demonstrate its validity. Participation is subject to the Official Rules of the contest, which can be found at http://www.edmunds.com/contest.
About Edmunds (http://www.edmunds.com/about/)
Edmunds publishes four Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its most popular feature, the Edmunds.com True Market Value®, is relied upon by millions of people seeking current transaction prices for new and used vehicles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated "#1" in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. Inside Line launched in 2005 and is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. CarSpace launched in 2006 and is an automotive social networking Web site. AutoObserver.com launched in 2007 and provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.
