For nearly two decades, the Contechs Design Award has recognised emerging automotive design talent and supported students as they begin their careers within the industry.
Delivered in collaboration with Coventry University, the award celebrates final-year Transport Design projects that reflect Contechs’ core pillars of Design, Engineering, Technology and Innovation, while helping students take their first steps into the automotive industry.
One designer who experienced that journey first-hand is Ben Kenward, now working as a CG Artist at Curve, producing visual content and digital assets for global OEMs including Toyota.
Ben’s final-year project, ALLIQ, explored a future all-terrain mobility concept designed to support Inuit trade culture and sustainable geothermal energy transportation in the Arctic by 2050. The project combined advanced mobility thinking with detailed digital execution and user-focused design development.
Reflecting on his recognition through the Contechs Design Award, Ben described the impact it had on his confidence and career direction.
“Winning the award was a significant confidence boost for me at the time. More importantly, it continued my ambition to pursue the visualisation/CGI route connected to the automotive industry.”
That recognition built on an earlier experience working alongside Contechs during a second-year university project, where students received direct industry feedback throughout the design process.
“Working with Contechs was my first real experience receiving industry feedback and learning how to actively collaborate with a client. It pushed our team to creatively solve the issues raised in their comments, rather than just designing for our own personal preferences.”
Ben credits those experiences as an important step towards his career in automotive visualisation and real-time digital content creation.
“It was one of the first dominoes that pushed me down the visualisation path, eventually leading me to real-time, Unreal Engine work and the animation project that formed a big part of my application to Curve.”
Today, Ben works across a broad range of creative and technical disciplines within Curve’s agile studio environment.
“My day-to-day can range from building full environments to researching the latest AI tech or from art direction to compositing and colour grading final pixels. I love using my automotive design background to ensure the vehicles we work with keep telling their intended story from the design studio all the way to the showroom.”
As the Contechs Design Award approaches its 19th year, stories like Ben’s continue to reflect the wider purpose behind the award. It places a spotlight on standout design talent, helping emerging creatives build confidence, industry connections and meaningful careers within automotive design.
