By Elesha George
Still in disbelief at his achievement, 14-year-old Daniel Athill Jonas of the Pares Secondary School approached a small audience gathered at the John E St Luce Finance and Convention Centre on Saturday afternoon to explain how he designed a future Toyota Dream Car.
Jonas was declared the winner of the Waku-Doki award for his design, “The Supra Furidamu” or “Supra Freedom” in English.
“I’m very honoured to be given the Waku-Doki award in 2023. I’m just completely blown away by everything,” he said.
The Supra Furidamu boasts a range of futuristic features, including self-tinting glass, automatic tint/untint using advanced glass technology, electric motor cooling for high speeds, ultrasonic sensors, and an exterior coated in graphene. Jonas said the graphene is up to 100x more resilient than steel and 5x more resistant than aluminum which is what is usually used to coat standard cars.
His innovative design seamlessly blended cutting-edge technology and sustainability features, catching the attention of expert judges who commented: “It looks like a blueprint and is interesting. It would be nice if Toyota could make this artwork into a realistic model car. This child would be delighted if that became a reality.”
A total of 782,852 art pieces was submitted from 90 countries and regions. Out of these, 25 winners were chosen: three grand prize winners, two special awards winners, and 20 best finalist winners.
Jonas, who won one of the two special awards is the first person from the Caribbean to be awarded a prize in the global art competition. He was awarded XCD $13,500 for himself and XCD $27,000 for his school.
“Wise men still do come from the east,” declared Letitia Harris-Lawrence, the Principal of Pares Secondary School.
“This moment is not just an occasion for applause; it is a testament to the power of dedication, creativity, and unwavering belief in oneself,” she continued. “Your victory inspires us to dream big, to look beyond the boundaries of what is known, and to strive for excellence at every turn. Your achievement is a reminder that age is no limit to success and that our youth harbor boundless potential within themselves,” she said.
The contest which was held in Antigua and Barbuda had over 40 young creatives who shared their drawings for their ultimate dream cars. From these pieces, two winners were selected from each age category, ages 7-11 and 12-15.
The two winners from the local competition, along with four other artworks, were then submitted to the world contest, judged in Japan.
Ariana Armstrong, a 14-year-old student from Antigua Girls’ High School won in the 12 to 15 category. Her creation, “The Animal Rescue Tide,” features an amphibious and airborne vehicle equipped with advanced technology to aid in animal rescue missions.
Armstrong characterised her design as a “spy car”.
“It looks senseless on the outside, but on the inside all sorts of devices that can help with animal missions to protect animals,” she said. Recalling her excitement, Armstrong said, “I was jumping up all over the place.”
Another standout participant was eight-year-old Aarav Rajput from St Andrew’s Academy who won in the 7 to 11 category. His whimsical design of the “Rescue Cruiser” not only flies and swims but includes medical monitoring and entertainment features.
“My car can fly; it can save people and animals, and when the gas is gone, it has a parachute so that it doesn’t fall and crash,” Rajput explained enthusiastically.
“Also, it can swim and check the heart pressure and blood pressure and each person who sits in the car will get a laptop … if you’re getting bored, you can also play Super Bros Mario,” he continued excitedly.
Both Armstrong and Rajput won a Wacom Digital Pen Art Tablet for themselves along wicar’s00 for their respective schools from Harney Motors Ltd.
The contest was introduced in Antigua and Barbuda by Harney Motors, the distributors for Toyota, around a decade ago. Icilma Chastanet, sales representative at Harney Motors was one of the employees who went to the various schools to encourage students to participate.
“We decided to introduce the schools on a larger scale this year because we wanted maximum participation,” she explained.
The Waku-Doki competition was first held in 2004 to encourage children, age 15 and under, to design sustainable cars. More than 6.1 million children have participated over the years.
The 2023 award-winning entries were selected in national contests held around the world from March 2022 to February 2023, with the winning artworks submitted to be judged for the world contest. In May 2023, the entries were judged and award winners were selected.
According to Toyota, the judges in the three age categories were comprised not only of Toyota Motor Corporation Representatives but of Art Experts and Automotive Specialists outside of Toyota.