Students Win Awards in Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition
Thirteen students were recognized for their creativity and ingenuity in the ET Foundation’s 2013 Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition.
The ET Foundation (Wauconda, IL) awarded $11,500 in scholarships to recognize the winning designs featuring extruded aluminum components—developed by students studying industrial design and engineering at schools around the world. The competition was sponsored by exclusive Platinum sponsor Sapa Extrusions North America, and Almag Aluminum, Inc.
For an example of the innovative designs submitted, check out this one from last year’s competition.
The designs were judged by aluminum extrusion industry professionals, including David Asher, of Bonnell Aluminum; Todd Boyer, director of sales and marketing at Mid-States Aluminum Corp.; Peter Hedman, manager, North America Technical Center for Sapa Extrusions North America; and Craig Werner, principal of Werner Extrusion Solutions LLC.
First Place, with a $3,000 Scholarship was awarded to Dominic Atibil of Purdue University for his design. The Solarboard is a semi-permanent solar-powered bulletin board for outdoor use in both urban and rural settings.
“It harnesses the power of the sun and powers LED lights to illuminate the posters on [the] bulletin board, as well as provides minimal security lighting in the night time,” wrote Dominic Abitil in his entry materials.
“I came about the idea when I was walking home from the computer lab in the night when I saw students posting flyers on the current sign areas, which were poorly lit and not aesthetically pleasing because they were made of wood and had [to] withstand natural wear and tear,” he explained.
The judges liked the design because of how the design incorporated the use of eco-friendly aluminum along with solar power and LED lights. “I can see it on bike paths, in parks, and so on,” said Design Competition judge Todd Boyer. “The design is really a snapshot of life today in 2013. It’s self-sustaining and shows off the use of aluminum in a solar and LED lighting application.”
The student also was awarded a Sapa Sustainable Design Honorable Mention, earning him another $250. “Atibil’s solar board concept displayed good extrusion knowledge, though it is in need of breaking the design into multiple shapes,” commented Sapa Sustainable Design judge Peter Hedman. “I could see something like this actually being successfully commercialized. It checks the environmental box from an energy savings perspective.”
Second Place with a $2,000 Scholarship was awarded to Jasnic Milan of FUD Megatrend University in Belgrade, Serbia for his “Light in Case of Power Failure”. This design was created as a new or retrofit lighting system for existing buildings to provide illumination during a power failure for stairways and other dark areas of buildings.
According to the student, the system works automatically; the controller detects when power fails and switches on the LED lights powered by batteries. “This design points the way to similar applications for existing handrails with these features built in” suggested competition judge Craig Werner. “The market for this application is huge.”
Third Place with a $1,000 Scholarship was awarded to Dajing Li of Purdue University for the “Two-in-one Collapsible Stretcher”. Li, a sophomore Industrial Design student, used aluminum for the design of this emergency medical stretcher for its light weight, durability and corrosion resistance. It is designed as separate sections including a nylon fabric stretcher and foldable extruded aluminum cart.
“The purpose of this design is to enhance security, as well as the [stability] of the stretcher,” explained Li referring to the S-shaped inner protective pieces at the four corners of the structural tube. This is to prevent the stretcher from moving in order to make the patient feel as comfortable as possible during transportation. “The [ease] of folding and unfolding the stretcher can save time for medical workers and meanwhile save precious time for the patients,” noted Li.
The judges appreciated the design for its dual-purpose and well-engineered use of aluminum extrusion. “It’s simply fabricated and joined to excellent utility,” explained competition judge David Asher of Bonnell Aluminum.
