Stellantis (and its Chrysler predecessor) has a pretty good track record of cultivating young talent for the design studios. Mark Trostle was in high school in 1987 when he won a student design competition hosted by Chrysler. That was the same year high school student Ralph Gilles got a letter from then-Chrysler design chief Neil Walling urging him to attend design school, after seeing sketches from Gilles. Trostle now leads the Stellantis-owned Ram Truck/Mopar/SRT Design Studios, while Gilles is chief design officer for Stellantis globally.And since 2014, Stellantis North America (and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles before it) has been hosting a student design competition, Drive for Design, in search of other rising stars that might end up working in the auto industry. This year's Drive for Design is now accepting submissions from US students in grades 10 to 12, and new this year is Drive for Design Junior for US students from kindergarten to ninth grade. 'Design the Future of Fast' Stellantis The top prize for one high schooler includes an "immersive real-world internship" in Ram and SRT design studio in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Second and third prizes aren't too bad, either, including College for Creative Studies scholarships for a three-week pre-college "Transportation Design" program at the Detroit campus from July 12 to 31, 2026.Stellantis Students this year are being asked to “Design the Future of Fast,” as in, a next‑generation SRT vehicle using one of Stellantis’ brands, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, or Ram. Yes, put a Hemi in it.“Designing an SRT vehicle means unleashing a fearless mindset and dreaming up performance-driven ideas that look fast even when they’re standing still,” Trostle says. “We can’t wait to see how students of every age push the limits and redefine what fast, powerful and downright awesome can look like for the next generation.”Stellantis Hundreds of entries come from across the country for each year's competition, and they are reviewed by the entire Ram Truck and Mopar design studio in the same way a production vehicle is studied.And for the record, for those cynics thinking Stellantis is just looking for cheap child labor, Stellantis makes this very clear: "Submissions are not used for production/idea purposes." But identifying creative young minds is definitely the goal. April 23 Submission Deadline StellantisTo date, Stellantis has two designers on staff who won Drive for Design in the past: Ben Treinen, a Ram Truck Interior designer who won in 2016, and Dongwon Kim, who works in the Advanced Design Studio and won in 2015. Several others worked their internships, and the four past winners are now working as professional designers in the auto industry.The newly launched Drive for Design Junior competition will follow the same design brief and submission guidelines as the high school competition, with one winner selected in each of these age groups: Kindergarten-3rd grade, 4th-6th grade, and 7th-9th grade.All student-created entries are due by noon EDT on Thursday, April 23. If you need details to nudge your budding Picasso, visit StellantisDriveForDesign online, available through the source link below. All entries must be your own original work, and do we even have to say it? AI‑generated images are strictly prohibited. Winners will be announced on Friday, May 1.