In Summary

  • BMW scholarship will reward Swinburne students for their vision of the perfect future mobility scenario for Melbourne
  • Five students will each receive €1,000 and a trip to BMW’s head office and research and development facilities in Munich
  • Winning entries will be selected by a panel of Swinburne and BMW representatives

To support the education and development of future visionaries and leaders, the BMW Group has established a co-operative scholarship for Swinburne students.

This BMW Group Smart Melbourne Scholarship will see Swinburne students submitting their vision of the perfect future mobility scenario for Melbourne. 

The winning entries will be selected by a panel of Swinburne and BMW representatives. The students behind the top five submissions will each receive €1,000 and a hosted trip to the BMW Group head office and research and development facilities in Munich.

The scholarship was announced as part of the BMW Group Dialogues program – an international mobility forum held in Swinburne’s Factory of the Future.

The BMW Group Dialogues program was initiated by the global BMW Group to ensure sustainability remains an integral part of the Group’s international corporate strategy.

Underpinning this approach to sustainability is regular and meaningful stakeholder engagement as the company is keen to hear the thoughts of future global leaders in different countries.

BMW Group Dialogues

BMW Group Dialogue sessions have been held in Hangzhou, Chicago and Milan, providing valuable insights into the challenges ahead, but this is the first time such a session has been held in Australia.

“Here in Australia, we believe there are untapped opportunities to shape the direction of personal mobility, and we welcome the opportunity to explore these topics from the perspectives of our current and future leaders,” says BMW Group Australia CEO, Marc Werner.

“We are pleased to partner with BMW on this initiative as sustainable mobility is central to our Smart Cities agenda,” says Swinburne Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) Professor Aleksandar Subic.

“We need broad stakeholder engagement, such as the BMW Dialogue hosted at Swinburne, in order to tackle the problems that our cities and society are facing in this domain. I am pleased in particular that our industry partners, students, staff and researchers from Swinburne and other universities in Melbourne participated in this wonderful inaugural event.”

Students looking at BMW Group Dialogue Melbourne display panels

The Melbourne Dialogue included separate sessions for student, business and industry stakeholder groups and examined key questions related to the future of sustainable urban mobility.

Topics included

  • What are the biggest challenges for urban mobility in Australia, compared to other countries? What are the reasons for the current situation in Australia?
  • How can automotive manufacturers contribute? What kind of mobility products and services are needed to help achieve the city’s goals?

Experts from the international BMW Group attending the initiative include Ursula Mathar, global head of sustainability and environmental protection, and Andreas Klugescheid, head of government and external affairs.

Learn more about the BMW Group Smart Melbourne scholarships.