A WELWYN Garden City student has been named runner-up in a prestigious motor industry competition.

Katie Jones, who studies at Leeds University, was a finalist in the 2011 Autocar Courland Next Generation Award, which aims to identify and develop top automative talent of the future.

The 21-year-old’s concept was Radiance, a colour and trim design innovation for the luxury car market, which will enable vehicles to delicately glow at low levels of luminosity.

Katie, of Broadleaf Grove, said the competition had been a “fantastic opportunity” to showcase her idea and meet some key people in the industry.

She said: “Even though I did not win the award overall, making it to the final three of a national competition has been a great achievement for me.

“I have already had a number of approaches from different companies who are interested in me and my idea, with the possibility of developing my concept.”

From her initial entry, Katie was one of 12 candidates invited to attend an assessment day with senior industry executives.

From there, six were chosen to take part in a Dragons’ Den-style presentation session, and a final three selected to attend a Society of Moter Manufacturers & Traders awards dinner.