During competition participation, Riga Technical University industrial design students offered their conceptual solutions for the design of the new cabin of the Sigulda cable car. Student Alberts Zitmanis won the right to participate in the production of the new cabin as an industrial designer, starting from its detailed development up to its complete production and launch. across the old valley of Gauja.
In 2018, plans to create new Sigulda trolley cabins for the 2024/2025 SIA «Sigulda Adventures» were put into place. Therefore, a competition was announced for the creation of the new wagon's vision, and students of the RTU Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Transport and Aeronautics «Industrial Design» study program offered 24 solutions for the wagon's new visual identity in the competition.
The competition entries were evaluated in terms of the uniqueness of the ideas, design sustainability, and the proposed silhouettes of the wagon. 2nd-year «Industrial Design» student Alberts Zitmanis took 1st place honors, which included a cash prize and the opportunity to participate not only in the development of the train car, but also in additional company projects.
His classmate Ernests Liepiņš earned second place accolades, while several works were selected for 3rd place recognition: 1st year students Valdis Priede, Laura Stalidzāne and Dāvis Orniņš, as well as 2nd year student Roberta Lazdiņa. The students' visions cannot be viewed because these conceptual solutions are considered a commercial secret.
The director of the study program, Anita Geriņa-Ancāne, welcomes the students' activity and desire to participate in the competition, which, in addition to academic study, promoted young people making use of theoretical and practical knowledge to solve real world problems, while also promoting the need for additional practical involvement and knowledge acquisition in their chosen professions.
Kristians Rimkus, owner and chief engineer of the non-standard industrial equipment design company «WeMPS», considers the students to be very talented and was surprised by the sheer number and variety of ideas presented, while engineer Pēteris Pavlovskis mentioned the possibility to take a good portion of the conceptual ideas from all the students' works. However, the owner of «Sigulda Adventures» and SIA «Aerodium Technologies» Ivars Beitāns emphasized the great demand for talented students worldwide with the ability to add «sexiness» to the product.
