Designers at materials maker Avient Corp. have had Georgia on their minds.
The firm's Avient Design unit began working with students at Georgia Tech's School of Industrial Design in September 2024. The six-week project was aimed at using Avient's Polystrand-brand composites to make products for sporting goods. Students developed products ranging from bike accessories and camping equipment to protective braces and training gear.
In a news release, officials with Avient in Avon Lake, Ohio, said the collaboration "not only challenged the students to think creatively, but also provided them with real-world experience in materials science and industrial design."
Polystrand composites are known for their strength, durability, and lightweight characteristics, they added. Avient Design is a specialized group of industrial designers and project engineers at the firm.
Georgia Tech student Anastacia Delvin said working with Avient Design on the project "gave me a good sense of what working in the industry is like."
"With the critiques, feedback and presentations, my teammate and I felt supported to really push ourselves in our work," added Delvin, a junior industrial design student. "Overall, the project was a great experience to learn about the limitations of different materials and how to consider them in the application of products."
Regular critiques and feedback sessions helped students refine their designs and push their work to a higher level, Avient officials said. As part of the program, Avient personnel delivered a guest lecture on design best practices and injection molding, offering insights into the manufacturing process.
The program also included portfolio reviews and a career advice presentation. Georgia Tech Undergraduate Program Coordinator Kevin Shankwiler said the collaboration with Avient "has been a valuable addition to our curriculum. … The design team's generous time giving material education, feedback and critique and team coaching helped prepare the students for the challenges of the professional world."
For Avient Design, working with Georgia Tech students "has been an incredibly rewarding experience," according to program manager Jake Salter. "From our very first conversations to the final presentations, the students' creativity and dedication were evident," he said.
Atlanta-based Georgia Tech has more than 53,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The university conducts more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry and society.
Avient is one of North America's largest producers of compounds, concentrates, composites and protective fibers. The firm employs more than 9,000 worldwide and posted sales of $3.2 billion in 2024.