The resulting backpack aims to better distribute the varying equipment a military photographer needs in the field. The job can be nomadic, which creates a demand for mobility and accessibility.
“The goal is to not have to take the backpack off,” Johnson said.
This is accomplished with a belt system on which storage modules can attach and slide freely around the waist. Photographers can quickly grab anything from lenses to flashes.
The main body has three sections. Closest to the photographer’s back is the Moshi Power Pack, and its USB cord fits along one shoulder strap. The other strap houses the tube for a CamelBak water bladder, which sits in the outermost section. Acting as a divider between power and hydration is an expandable compartment much like those on some suitcases.
“If you don’t have to carry extra things,” Danny Calabrese said, “then it can just be a daypack and then be small.”
It’s an intricate product, and the team said sewing the many parts was a challenge. They had almost no prior experience, although Johnson once dabbled in clothing.
“I made a pair of shorts in high school,” he said.
“AEOLUS” COAL MINING RESPIRATOR
RESULT: SECOND PLACE, PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
DESIGNERS: MATT SAUNDERS, TONY SMITH
Saunders and Smith said their professors helped guide their product brainstorm.
“They encouraged us to pick a user group first,” Smith said. “Pick a problem area with a set of people and solve that for them.”
Exploring more obscure professions, the team saw a design opportunity with the dangerous job coal miners have.
Its research revealed that an ailment known as “black lung” is the leading danger to coal miners’ health. It’s a blanket term for the continued exposure to coal dust, which yields permanent respiratory issues. This fueled their creation of a respirator system.
“Anything that’s already out there now is nothing they would even consider using,” Saunders said.
Current systems are bulky, and coal miners sometimes work in spaces with ceilings as low as four feet.
“We really just completely slimmed everything down,” Smith said.
Aeolus connects a small backpack to a modest facemask.
The Moshi Power Pack dictates the backpack dimensions and runs an intake fan. Air enters through several vent slits and is drawn through a specialized filter and follows a rubber tube to the mouth. The nylon mesh facemask is thin enough to allow normal exhaling, while the force of the Aeolus air flow rejects the entry of harmful exterior particles.
ARDICA-ENABLED SKI PATROL VEST
RESULT: STUDENT DESIGN AWARD
DESIGNER: CROSBY REINDERS
Crosby Reinders’ product ideas hardly strayed from the winter slopes.
“I snowboard a lot,” he said, “so that’s part of where I got the inspiration for what I did.”
Reinders concentrated on emergency ski patrol and crafted a slim vest to accommodate the position’s needs.
The job requires the transport of small-scale equipment including radios and avalanche beacon locators. The Moshi Power Pack charges these devices while they are docked in pouches and adjustable loop systems on the vest front. The USB cables trail the shoulder straps to the vest back where the battery resides.
Reinders suggested that during a rescue, the patrolman can sacrifice their warmth and use the Moshi Power Pack to power a heated blanket for the victim.
His product is simpler than his fellow Tech finalists, Reinders acknowledged, but that was his intention.
“I thought (Ardica) might like something they could actually make,” he said.
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