The young outdoor company Ardica may have developed out of Stanford University’s mechanical engineering department, but it recently displayed an affinity for Virginia Tech’s industrial design program.
Ardica sponsored an international design competition that yielded more than 100 submissions. On Dec. 5, it hosted eight finalist groups in San Francisco, and third-year Tech industrial design students comprised four of those slots.
Five awards were up for grabs, and Tech swept the winnings.
“We weren’t really sure about how many prizes they would win,” said associate professor of industrial design Akshay Sharma. “But, we had absolute confidence in the process those guys had followed.”Sharma said the students reeled in approximately $13,000 and retained the intellectual property of their ideas.
The competition prompt revolved around an Ardica product called “The Moshi Power Pack.” It’s a flat, flexible battery system with a surface area considerably smaller than a letter-sized piece of paper, and it weighs less than one pound.
The Moshi Power Pack can radiate heat for almost 9 continuous hours, and its USB port can recharge a customer’s portable products, such as cell phones and iPods, for up to 20 times without itself having to power up.
Entrants in the competition were asked to integrate the Moshi Power Pack into a new outdoor product of their conception.
Ed Dorsa, associate professor of industrial design, said competitions such as Ardica’s require disciplined designing.
“They are good projects, I think, for students because they have a defined set of objectives,” Dorsa said, “and the students don’t really have any wiggle room.”
The Tech teams, composed of nine students, had roughly eight weeks to translate their ideas into physical prototypes.
The four teams were finalists not only for creating attractive products, Dorsa said, but for also being able to effectively communicate their product’s market value. They worked extensively to refine 150-word “elevator pitches,” but visuals were also crucial.
“Their skill levels in representation — their drawing, their model making, their computer-aided design skills ... I think was a big part of it,” Dorsa said.
And while other finalists were professionals, Dorsa didn’t discount his students’ chances.
“I’d put them up against anybody,” he said. “I think they’re that good.”
ARDICA “VOLTAGE” SLEEPING BAG
RESULT: FIRST PLACE
DESIGNERS: PATRICE HSIA,
GREG LEFEVERE, KYLE MCCRORY
Patrice Hsia said she probably hasn’t camped since she was 13 years old. Her team members aren’t avid tent dwellers either. The inspiration for Voltage, then, was rather rational.
“We didn’t want to branch out too far from what they (at Ardica) have,” Greg LeFevere said.
Ardica previously only used the Moshi Power Pack in conjunction with a winter jacket. LeFevere said the competition prompt stressed the utilization of the battery system’s flexibility, heat output and charging capabilities.
“I guess our best solution was a sleeping bag,” he said.
Its rectangular shape is a hybrid, stacking the material cocoon atop an inflatable pad. The pad made attaching the two layers stressful. One slip could have sacrificed the prototype.
“We had about a quarter-inch seam to sew on,” Hsia said.
With cold extremities in mind, the team located the Moshi Power Pack at the feet. An interface of several buttons sits at chest level, and occupants can set constant heat levels or intermediate bursts of warmth.
A USB charging station is at the Voltage head, as well as a nook for a flashlight that the team designed. Its handle is clear, allowing for an alternate lantern setting to help illuminate venues such as pine tree outhouses. Toilet paper could be stored in two Voltage pockets.
When civilization beckons, Voltage is tightly rolled and toted in a shoulder-sling bag.
“PHOTOGENESIS”
BACKPACK FOR PRO PHOTOGRAPHERS
RESULT: THIRD PLACE
DESIGNERS: DANNY CALABRESE, BRAD JOHNSON, MATT MANGANTI
The team said it thought the military could use the Moshi Power Pack, but the research would have been difficult.
“Then I saw a camera sitting on Danny’s desk,” Brad Johnson said, “and I thought, ‘wait, photojournalism in the military would be
pretty cool.’”
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.