The Lite-On Awards is the largest-scale industrial design competition in Greater China. Lite-On received 1661 entries from ten different countries -- Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the U.S., Germany, Sweden and England.
The purpose of these awards is to acknowledge up-and-coming technology from different design schools and universities as well as corporate teams from around the globe and to stimulate new design ideas. Most importantly, the awards are to give these new products and innovations global recognition so that they may obtain support and funding, which is important for new products to find success in the market.
Raymond Soong, chairman of Lite-On Technology Corp., gave the opening speech at the ceremony, welcoming, congratulating and commending the participants on their hard work and innovation.
Judges and honorable guests included Ralph Wiegmann, iF International Forum Design, Marketing Director; Martin Darbyshire, Tangerine Product & Design, CEO and President; Tsutomu Yamauchi, Japan Industrial Designer's Association Admission, President/Matsuhita Electric Works, Ltd. and Corporate Design Department, Assistant Senior Councilor; Mark Stocker, Direction Design Group, Managing director; and Kris Verstockt, CRE8 Design/Executive Director.
Yu-Shung Chung of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yi-Ju Lai of Tunghai University and Hsieh-Heng Wu of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology took home the Gold Award and NT$350,000 for their Paper Phone design. The non-student group to win the Gold Award and the cash was Hsin-Huang Tsai, Chun-Yen Taso and Chen Chia-Ching, representing Second Corporation, with their Window of Light. Winners of the Gold Award will receive further support from Lite-On and will join the iF Awards, the Red Dot Awards and the IDEA Awards, comprising the top three global design competitions.
Problem solving was the most important aspect of choosing the Gold Award winners, Ralph Wiegmann said.
"It is up to the industry to realize that design is not just about making beautiful and clever products," Wiegmann explained. "More importantly, it is about helping people and solving problems that need to be solved."
When asked what made the Gold Award winners stand out amongst the rest of the participants, Wiegmann responded, "They really strived to solve a problem and designed their products to help people. The other competitors were not as human being-focused. The winners designed their product every step of the way to help people and create a solution."
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