They have come to inspire: at the sixth Audi design UNIverse, 54 up-and-coming talents from five design academies present their visions of tomorrow’s mobility. Regardless if seaweed or wood, jet car or bus: let’s open the curtain for the automotive future.

Tension fills the air of the presentation hall. Equipped with a tweezer and precision, Tomáš Jančařík applies the Four Rings to his exhibit. A few meters away, Mohammed Muqeet Shariff sets his whole energy in polishing the exhibit until everything shines. Julian Bell critically examines his work on the wooden pallet and makes slight adjustments. The students are aware: their time has come. Soon, they will have the chance to present their visions of the future.

Among the curious guests stands Marc Lichte, Head of Design at Audi. The Audi design UNIverse offers a platform for students, universities and Audi design. This year, the creative think tank opened its doors for the sixth time.

54 international students from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava, the Politecnico di Milano, the Scuola Politecnica di Design Milano, the FH Joanneum from Graz and the University of Applied Sciences Munich are invited, along with their respective projects supported by Audi design. “Audi design UNIverse gives us the opportunity to change our perspective and experience the future through the eyes of the next generation of designers,” Klemens Rossnagel explains, who is responsible for research and recruiting in Audi design. He looks after the students throughout the process, allowing him to discover potential young talents at an early stage. A strategically important task, as one thing is for sure at Audi: With the right people, you can achieve anything. Audi provides the professional knowledge and experience, and the students bring in their creativity and new impulses.

And the arithmetic works. Marc Lichte’s team puts great emphasis on learning more about the student’s dreams, desires and fears. The talents express these emotions in their exhibits and are given one to two semesters time for this assignment. This year’s motto is transformation. “Everything is changing, including the design. We have to grow beyond us, and think and act beyond our knowledge and imagination,” says Lichte.