The Polish-German group of designers won the "Product Designer of the Year" award, beating over 500 competitors from all over the world. As the chief designer, Peter Kuczia, admits, this award is "for the entire international team of enthusiasts who have been working on this futuristic project free of charge for several months".

Everyone is convinced that this is a groundbreaking concept of the approach to public transportation solutions. 'This eco-friendly project, with its visionary idea for the future, perfectly addresses the problems of the present,' stressed the organizers of the competition.

The Sunglider with 3D printed carriages covered with solar cells is supplied entirely with energy obtained on its roofs. It is controlled by artificial intelligence. Ultimately, traveling by the Sunglider could take place completely free of charge.

The Polish part of the team, led by Ewelina Gawell, PhD. Arch., from the Warsaw University of Technology was involved in shaping the roof architecture, which is the supporting structure of the Sunglider and its individual stations.

The roof is completely covered with photovoltaic panels to get the maximum amount of solar energy. Working with specialists in various fields (e.g. in the field of transport engineering, fabrication, or sociology), the team built a parametric model allowing for the free shaping of the Sunglider, including its course or the angle of inclination of photovoltaic panels.

Visualization of the Sunglider Smart Uberground Metros project by the team led by Peter Kuczi and Ewelina Gawell, source: https://productdesignawards.us/

The team members also included other people associated with the Faculty of Architecture of the WUT: Mariusz Wrona, MSc, Agnieszka Wardzińska (diploma student), Maria Yanchuk, Aleksa Stępniewska, Amr Waly, Jakub Koźlik (graduates), Wiktoria Gorzelewska, Piotr Banasiak (students).

The New York Product Design Awards honour talented product designers, design teams and manufacturers from around the world whose designs have made everyday life much better with practical and ingenious creations.