The unique energy you find when you bring brilliant young minds together never fails to inspire me. You see how they take deceptively simple ideas and then, with incredible drive and motivation, develop them into extraordinary projects. That belief in a good idea, and the relentless effort to perfect it is unlike anything else.

The Ford Smart Mobility Accelerator Challenge, a competition for University teams to develop sustainable urban mobility solutions with clear community benefits, is a perfect encapsulation of this phenomenon. Hosting it is a powerful reminder to me of the desire so many young people have for meaningfully improving our world. Nothing at this year’s event highlighted that passion and ingenuity better than the Aqua Volt project.

Fadiya Fathima Muhammad from the UK's Loughborough University faced a highly competitive field, with 11 projects from innovators across Germany, Spain, and the UK. They were all vying for a chance to take their ideas to the next level. In the end, it was Aqua Volt that stood out, winning the top prize and a grant of 15,000 euros to help turn her vision into a reality.

The concept is born from a simple, elegant idea: biomimicry, i.e., taking cues from the natural world to solve complex human problems. At first glance, the technology is beautiful, comprised of solar panels shaped like overlapping fish scales that can be applied to a vehicle’s body.

“With its combination of biomimicry, sustainability, and advanced materials, Aqua Volt transforms mobility into a cleaner, safer, and more resilient experience.”

Fadiya Fathima Muhammad, Aqua Volt Inventor

This design, inspired by nature’s own efficiency, is not just for looks; it reduces aerodynamic drag by as much as 25 per cent while harvesting solar energy. It's a clever solution aimed at tackling the real-world problems of grid reliance and range anxiety for electric vehicle owners.

I caught up with Fadiya away from the main stage to learn more about the science behind the art. Her confidence and passion were immediately clear as she walked me through the details. “I’ve built the wrapper to be lightweight so it can be attached to vehicles seamlessly without compromise,” she told me.

She further explained, “I was conscious of the potential financial burden of maintenance. So, the wrapper is built with self-healing materials which makes it durable and lowers maintenance costs. With its combination of biomimicry, sustainability, and advanced materials, Aqua Volt transforms mobility into a cleaner, safer, and more resilient experience”

The science is brilliant, but I had a feeling the story went deeper, so I took the opportunity to ask her about the inspiration that sparked the project. Her answer resonated with me deeply.

She told me about her family back in India and her father’s dream of buying a car. She recalled how the whole family saved for years, and the pride they felt when they finally had one parked outside. But then came the quiet heartbreak: the car mostly sat there, a symbol of their hard work they couldn't actually use. As she explained, the petrol was simply too expensive.

It’s a reality faced by countless families, but Fadiya saw a different reality right outside her window. In her words, India is a country where the sun always shines. That right there was the initial spark that inevitably led to the creation of the Aqua Volt project.

Seeing the ingenuity and inspiration behind the Aqua Volt first-hand reinforces exactly why these programs are so crucial. The journey for students like Fadiya begins with the Ford Smart Mobility Accelerator event.

Here, it’s about more than just a final pitch. It’s an immersive experience of peer-to-peer learning, intense problem-solving sessions, and dedicated entrepreneurial training. You see teams from different countries sharing notes, helping each other refine their concepts.

The goal is to prepare them for the real world, and to give them a chance to win a scale-up grant. That grant is the essential next step, providing the support needed to take a brilliant idea from a university lab and begin its journey toward becoming a tangible reality on our roads.

Judith Kleinemeyer is the Senior Manager of Ford Philanthropy Europe