Design Innovation in Plastics: Finalists earn praise for high quality presentations
Finalists for the Design Innovation in Plastics competition, sponsored by IOM3, received high praise by the judges for excellent quality of presentations
Design Innovation in Plastics is the longest running competition of its kind for university students in Europe. It is sponsored by IOM3, Covestro, the global polymer materials manufacturer, The Worshipful Company of Horners and supported by leading organisations in the fields of product design and injection moulding.
This year students were invited to design independently powered products made primarily of plastics, capable of being used off-grid and targeted at either the domestic or sports and leisure markets.
Chairman of the DIP Judging Panel, Richard Brown, praised the sheer range and creativity of ideas as well as the quality of the products, which he said made the task of selecting six finalists from a vast number of entries particularly challenging.
'The final six have interpreted the brief in innovative ways, made good use of materials and demonstrated that they have researched their subject thoroughly in order to create their solution. It’s always a challenge when we judge the entries presented by our six finalists, and this year was no different – the quality was extremely high. The presentations were professional, succinct, and covered all the criteria of the brief.
'Our finalists have really thought through their designs and materials, and it’s very evident that the work they did at their training course, kindly hosted by Sumitomo (SHI) Demag as part of their prize, has paid dividends. Some of them opted to tweak their designs to reflect what they learned there.'
The DIP award ceremony will be held on Friday 5 July, at IOM3’s headquarters in Euston, London. Students are competing for a top prize of £1,000. There are supporting cash prizes for all finalists, and work placements or training courses with leading design and industry sponsors, who include Brightworks, Innovate Design, and PDD.
Also as part of their prize, all finalists have been invited to attend a two-day plastics processing training course at the UK headquarters of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag, a world-leading manufacturer of injection moulding machines..
The six students who have made the final are:
- Gargi Agrawalla, Loughborough University: Ear Boost, a product for simultaneously dehumidifying and charging cochlear implants.
- Brandon Hopkins, London South Bank University: Saltbuoy, a salt-water powered data buoy.
- Jake Lee, Glasgow School of Art: SkinTemp, a core temperature sensor to keep people safe in cold water.
- Jem Mitchell, Glasgow School of Art: Sentree, a sonic deterrent for trees to protect them from overgrazing.
- Isabel Payne, Glasgow School of Art: SafiCase, a self-powered case for sterilising a menstrual cup with minimal water.
- Joe Shade, De Montfort University: Beehive, a smart beehive for monitoring and providing information about the wellbeing of the bees.