Purdue industrial designers sweep national competition
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University students have blitzed a national contest with unconventional designs for a self-filtering water bottle, lasers that mow lawns and massage therapy stones.
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"Our industrial design students are amazing," says Scott Shim, assistant professor of visual and performing arts. "In this most recent contest, they were asked to investigate why everyday things are designed a certain way, then challenge that design to make them more efficient or functional."
The competition, Eye for Why, was sponsored by Dyson, an international vacuum company, and is associated with Industrial Designers Society of America. Shim's 16 design students, who are all seniors, entered the contest. Fifty students submitted entries.
Nick Poteracki from Lake Zurich, Ill., won first place and $5,000 for his new water bottle filter system. R. Alec Cobb from Indianapolis won second place and $2,000 for his lawn mower design that uses laser-based technologies. Andrew Monteleone from Indianapolis won third place and $1,000 for his design of new physical and massage therapy devices, similar to traditional massage stones, which combine heat, cold and infrasound therapy. Shim also received $2,000 for serving as adviser to the grand-prize winner.
Shim, Poteracki and Monteleone attended the Jan. 31 awards ceremony at New York City's Museum of Modern Art.
Poteracki's Drop Portable Water Filtration Unit replaces the traditional water bottle with one that has filters near the spout.
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"Today's filtering water bottles don't do the job because the consumers' backwash often contaminates the filter, rendering it near useless, and the water is only filtered when the person is drinking."
Poteracki's micro-filtration membrane works as a perpendicular filtering element. Gravity and the pressurized environment, created by placing the watertight lid on both sides, aid the filtration process. Because the filter moves through the water, no space is lost to make room for a traditional charcoal filter and there is little risk of contaminating the filter.
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After spending his summer cutting grass, Cobb thought traditional lawn mowers used too much energy, and with rising fuel prices, he questioned the common design. His design, the XLa Laser Mower, uses hydrogen lasers, such as those used in dermatology to treat skin imperfections, to cut the grass. These lasers can be adjusted to target small cells or larger areas of living tissue.
"The typical grass blade contains a large amount of water within its cells, and water is what absorbs the hydrogen laser light beam," Cobb says. "The XLa Laser Mower also utilizes a current of air that is directed under the prop of the mower, where the beam is cutting, in order to limit the risk of scorching. The heat of the laser beam severs the grass blade and as a result of the targeted heat, it cauterizes and seals the exposed end, minimizing the negative effect of solar scorching and grass' susceptibility to fungi or parasites."
Cobb also says his design is not only safer for the user because there are no blades, but also is safer for the environment. The mower is powered by electricity from being plugged into a wall outlet. Because the cutting unit does not use moving parts, oil and other additives are not needed, which reduces seepage issues for the environment.
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"Plenary Therapeutics combine the most effective forms of physical therapy in a singular compact design, and is more convenient for someone suffering from low back problems or sore muscles," he says. "The problem with the traditional methods of these forms of therapy is that you are often required to go to a venue and pay for the service, and it may be difficult to find a place open on the weekend or evenings. And, even preparing homemade ice packs and hot water bottles takes time."
Purdue's industrial design program is part of the Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Purdue industrial design graduates have found jobs in corporations and consulting firms focusing on the design and development of products for manufacturing. Industrial design students also have worked in transportation, commercial and residential equipment, recreation, medical equipment, electronics and exhibits.
Shim also was part of a team earlier this month that won a $50,000 grand prize at an international design competition co-sponsored by Microsoft Corp. for Bookshelf, a new personal computer. The personal computer physically resembles a bookshelf and functions like a bookshelf as books and magazines — or in this case, hardware — are placed on it. The design eliminates the common problems of digital copyrights and inconvenient accessibility in the multimedia entertainment industry.
Last spring, Shim and two former students also won the grand prize at the Ninth International Bicycle Design Competition in Taiwan with a new design called SHIFT. The design, which topped 853 entrants from 56 countries to win the $15,000 prize, looks like a tricycle, but as the child gains momentum and learns to balance, the two rear wheels shift inward to merge into one wheel. This causes the balance to gradually shift from the bicycle to the child. SHIFT also was included among the most innovative inventions in 2005 by Time magazine.
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Sources: Scott Shim, (765) 494-3069, ssshim@cla.purdue.edu
Nick Poteracki, nickpoteracki@gmail.com
R. Alec Cobb, rcobb@purdue.edu
Andrew Monteleone, (317) 727-0582, amontele@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION
Professor Scott Shim's (sitting) senior design students Nick Poteracki from Lake Zurich, Ill., Andrew Monteleone from Indianapolis and R. Alec Cobb from Indianapolis swept a national contest with unconventional designs for a self-filtering water bottle, lasers that mow lawns and massage therapy stones. Poteracki won first place and $5,000 for his new water bottle filter system, Cobb won second place and $2,000 for his lawn mower design that uses laser-based technologies, and Monteleone won third place and $1,000 for his design of new physical and massage therapy devices. Shim also received $2,000 for serving as adviser to the grand-prize winner. (Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)
IMAGE CAPTION
Nick Poteracki's Drop Portable Water Filtration Unit replaces the traditional water bottle with one that has filters near the spout. Poteracki, who is from Lake Zurich, Ill., uses a micro-filtration membrane that works as a perpendicular filtering element. Gravity and the pressurized environment, created by placing the watertight lid on both sides, aid the filtration process. Because the filter moves through the water, no space is lost to make room for a traditional charcoal filter and there is little risk of contaminating the filter. (Image provided)
IMAGE CAPTION
R. Alec Cobb from Indianapolis designed the XLa Laser Mower, which uses hydrogen lasers, such as those used in dermatology to treat skin imperfections, to cut the grass. These lasers can be adjusted to target small cells or larger areas of living tissue. The mower also is powered by electricity from being plugged into a wall outlet. Because the cutting unit does not use moving parts, oil and other additives are not needed, which reduces seepage issues for the environment. (Image provided)
IMAGE CAPTION
Monteleone's design for Plenary Therapeutics looks just like the hot rocks used in massage therapy. The Peltier Thermoelectric Module, a small microchip, warms and cools the rock, and a ceramic plate at the base of the rock helps distribute the therapeutic temperatures to the skin. The device also contains eight small speakers that produce low-frequency sound waves that penetrate the skin and tissue. (Image provided)
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