• Belfug Sener won a top award for the Blink smart diagnosing device for at-home measurement of vital signs and performance of basic medical tests. The device is intended to empower a user to be more proactive about health matters rather than being reactive.
ABS is proposed for the front and back covers and cartridge storage units. Other components include an LCD screen, micro photometric sensors, fingerprint and thermometer sensor and lithium-ion battery.
Sener created the device in a four-month project as part of her studies at the Ankara, Turkey, campus of the public Middle East Technical University. A native of Turkey, she graduated from the university in May 2016 and is currently a summer product design intern at Kohler Co. in Wisconsin.
The Turkish Exporters' Assembly awarded a full scholarship through which she is enrolled for a second year in the integrated design program at the private nonprofit College for Creative Studies in midtown Detroit. Sener expects to graduate from the college in May 2018 with a Master of Fine Arts degree.
• Jaehoon Jung won a top award for a unit helmet system with a body of fiber-reinforced plastic along with a module connector and a magnetic clip. He focused on the design of the helmet's functional and ergonomic aspects.
The concept stemmed from his six-month academic study of the Swiss workforce. He found that Swiss labor productivity is considered to be the best in the world. His conclusion: "They always organize their tasks very very well before starting."
A native of Ulsan, South Korea, Jung received a Bachelor of Arts degree in industrial design in 2010 from Seoul National University of Technology and a Master of Arts degree in product design in 2016 from the Lausanne Cantonal Art School in Renens, Switzerland.
In August 2016, he joined the San Francisco office of fuseproject LLC.
In working toward establishment of a work-wear brand, he designed a tool belt and worker's apron in addition to the helmet.
• Peter Alwin won a top award for an accredited-social-health-activist concept based on field studies of health care workers in India's rural Gujarat state. Alwin is a native of Baroda, Gujarat.
Materials include ABS for the outer body shell, double-dipped SofTex synthetic leather for the grip handle, silicone for the button, clear-coat acrylic for the display screen, die-cast stainless steel for the hook and, for the personal baby blanket, a cotton inner layer and a canvas outer layer.
Alwin and others at Umeå University's Institute of Design in Umeå, Sweden, designed the concept during a thesis project that took six months from initial research through final prototype.
Alwin graduated from the institute in June 2016 with a Master of Fine Arts degree in advanced product design and now works for Stockholm-based product development consultancy Semcon AB.
• Jung Myeongha of the Samsung Art & Design Institute in Seoul won a top award for a 360-degree underwater toy action camera.
Materials include waterproof cross-linked thermoplastic silicone vulcanizate elastomers for a child's ease in handling the camera. ABS and TPE are used in the accessories.
The aim is to enable children to handle electronic equipment in an unfamiliar underwater location.
• Five students at Dalian Minzu University of Dalian in China's Liaoning province won a top award for the Acoustic Power 2 concept of preventing snow and ice from accumulating on electrical wires during the winter.
The major materials are ABS, rubber, metal and glass.
Acoustic Power 2 would have a built-in tilt sensor that could activate high-energy ultrasound waves to de-ice wires, avoid having the weight of snow and ice toppling lines and eliminate related power outages.
Credits go to Xuefei Liu, Di Fang, Yu Liu, Huanhuan Li and Jiaxin Wang. The team developed the concept over 18 months.
Hangzhou Yunpan Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. cooperated on the project.
• Four students at the private nonprofit ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., won a top award for design of a health care system for seniors in assisted-living homes.
Materials include ABS, silicone, anti-skid rubber, aluminum, porcelain and ceramic.
Called Asistm, the smart bathroom system has an Equiy Mat floor device to calculate weight and balance. That information is sent to a Nuclei Hub portable interface that tracks vital signs. Finally, an Asence Toilet is designed for better posture.
Credits go to Astha Vagadia, Tyler Gabriel, Elaine Chaw and Tatsuya Eguchi.
• Mathew Simon, also an ArtCenter College of Design student, won a top award for the Sai expandable collection of flat-packed sustainable handmade furniture.
Materials include vibrantly colored bungee cords and plywood frames.
Each piece is woven in the craft tradition of the Lanna Thai ethnic group to create value for artisans and innovate with renewable natural materials.
The furniture can be delivered and assembled easily in settings around the world, connecting people and cultures. Cotton-wrapped elastic cords are dyed locally and woven onto the frames before being joined with the plywood.
• Two students at the Ningbo, China, campus of the University of Nottingham won a top award for the Dual soap dispenser concept.
Materials include a spring-equipped plastic pump for the reusable dispenser.
Dual is designed to reduce plastic pollution generated by the disposal of empty bottles. After using up Dual's liquid soap, a user can remove the paper wrapping and use the solid soap packaging for hand washing. The plastic dispenser pump, which is the only remaining component, can be used with other Dual soap. Development work took six months.
Yi Teng Shih of Taipei, Taiwan, expects by the end of 2017 to complete studies toward a postgraduate certificate in higher education at the university.
Jiani Zeng graduated from the university's BEng product design and manufacture program and, in September, begins studies toward a master's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
• Seunghee Seo of Yeungnam University in Gyeongsan, South Korea, won a bronze award for the modular is;Land concept of a floating city.
Materials include carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers.
A user connects the components of the concept to create a water world. Each piece of is;Land is designed in a symmetrical form. When connected with electromagnetic pull, the pieces form a larger multifunctional boat with oak trees on the deck, grass in the cabin and other trees in the center.