Edmunds.com recently announced a contest to source ideas to answer the question of the much-publicized unintended acceleration issue. Seemingly Edmunds is as tired of all the rhetoric and ongoing investigations as is the general public and is looking for real answers to move closer to a solution. The underlying premise of the contest is that someone somewhere can shed light on the issue in a way that is not currently being employed. And did I mention the prize? An aggregate of $1 million will be awarded to the winning respondent(s) who can “demonstrate a novel and plausible cause of unintended acceleration in a consumer vehicle in accordance with the terms of the contest.” The contest opens May 3, 2010 and runs through October 29, 2010, with an anticipated announcement of winners in March 2011.

NineSigma has extensive background in the automotive industry given our longstanding work with OEMs and suppliers who utilize our network to find new solutions and capabilities to address a full range of technical issues.  We have run countless projects on everything from bio-inspired sensing systems to expert driver systems to extracting heat from parked cars. We were pleased that Edmunds invited our own senior engagement manager, Dr. Kevin Stark, to be an advisor for the contest. Dr. Stark will join other industry experts to help provide guidance on the review process and ultimately the selection of the right solutions. No doubt given the size of the bounty, the contest will attract global attention and prompt an array of viable responses. Wouldn’t it be great if next March Edmunds was able to provide the world and the automotive industry with new answers to this problem that has generated so much media scrutiny and public concern? We, at NineSigma, firmly believe in the power of the crowd and the immense expertise that is out there to solve the most elusive technical mysteries. We will keep our BLOINC readers posted as the contest gets underway.