THE MISSION of the Vehicle Design Summit is to catalyze an Energy Space Race: to identify the key characteristics of events like the race to the moon or civil rights movement and then transpose this energy, passion, focus and urgency to the multitude of global challenges (and opportunities) facing humanity and the planet in this day and age.

To achieve this end, VDS will begin by assembling a global consortium of the world's leading thinkers, dreamers, revolutionaries and change agents to develop the collaborative framework necessary to harness the world's genius, imagination and inspiration.

To give this initiative an initial focal point for experimentation, innovation and philosophical development the global consortium will start by focusing on transportation: where people want to go, how they get there and which elements of the industrial complex make this possible. We will work on issues of grid, vehicle design and sustainable mobility. 

In order to make this initiative a success, to reverse the tragedy of the commons, and to create a global group-think we need your help! We invite you to read through this site, take notes, make suggestions, and contact us. We are the people we have been waiting for and it is more than time to take action.

THE CHALLENGE of our chosen mission statement is is sweeping and very often gets lost in translation. The following image, drawn by VDS' founder Robyn Allen, aims to capture how we envision MIT, vehicles, subsystems and virtual portals eventually making a real, serious difference in the world:

The graphic shows the world at five points in time, starting with the launch of VDS in 2006 and ending five or ten years from now, with a seamless web of interconnected humanity mobilized and inspired to solve some of the most pressing challenges of our age. In this envisioned future, anyone with an idea bigger than themselves is able to seek out, work with and learn from others with similar interests. When talking about economic development, academics often refer to shy capital, or money in a society that certainly exists but is difficult to mobilize. The shear intellectual prowess of 7 billion people is rather difficult to fathom. The aim of VDS is to inspire a mental framework where shy intellectual capital might be unearthed, nurtured and enabled. Where the best and brightest are inspired to work on issues of energy or ecology rather than war. Where people who see the tangled web of interconnected challenges facing our planet are not so much overwhelmed by them but inspired by the chance to take on such a difficult task and achieve success.

The above graphic contains an arrow, which on a wider screen points to our mantra:

The aspiration with VDS is to run a project which is adequately complex and successful that we can inspire others to act, think and connect. In as many ways as our work and lessons learned can help others to walk that path with less weight on their shoulders, we will be honored to do.