In order to achieve the goals of my concept, I subdivided my efforts by simplifying or redesigning each of the car's systems before compiling them into a unified and highly styled solution.
Through my ideation, I developed the suspension system, fuel and power systems, as well as the drivetrain.
I also re-centralized all electronic components and created a partnered hardware / tool combination by which the car would be assembled and disassembled.
A simple set of three tools and their corresponding sockets, designed to efficiently remove and replace this hardware, would be provided with the automobile.
It became essential to focus on how the driver and owner of the vehicle would interface with their machine.
By providing total accessibility to all key systems, the car has room to expand or decrease its functions to suit the user's needs.
The value of the car is increased through flexibility and user involvement. This encourages future development and long term ownership.
The completed design showcases a delicate balance between sculpted form and purely engineered parts. By making every part a deeply functional one, purpose and value is restored to even the most humble of components.
All of the rigid structural forms adhere to a natural assembly / disassembly hierarchy, as they nest within one another.
By designing for a holistic product life cycle, and by empowering drivers to once again repair, change, and experiment with their cars, the Flux Seven aims to restore lasting integrity to the driving experience.
Winner of a top-ten award of distinction in the 2010 Domus Academy Car Design Competition.
I was "rescued" by Red Cross lifeguards during my research phase
Through documentation and first hand experiences, I focused on major problems that affect both response time and the overall difficulty of performing a deep water rescue.
By compartmentalizing how to place a submerged board beneath a victim, I could begin to simplify the immobilization process. Ultimately, this could improve the survival rate for submerged victims.
A board that is easier to control and use in deep water would improve both speed and accuracy while under stress.
After exploring possible solutions, I refined my ideas into a more refined concept, which was tested and iterated. A requirement of the design was to keep all standard rescue procedures the same. A rescuer does not need a to alter their techniques, the product itself simply makes those techniques more effective.
The proposed solution combined several ideas intended to streamline the deep water backboarding process. By creating a unique counter-balancing grip design which lets the board act as an extension of the forearm, greater control can be achieved in the water.
In addition, the form language of the board itself indicates victim placement through shape coding for both upper and lower body injuries. Spooled restraining straps eliminate tangling, and automatically stay taught and locked in place through a mechanism derived from a car's seatbelt.
Finally, a one piece headblock unit prevents vital components from floating away, and makes head immobilization a faster, one handed process.
IdeaPad U Series Tablet
Identity used for branding excercise
Current tablets fall typically into two categories, slates with LCD displays, and readers with e-ink displays. In an honest attempt to "go paperless" neither display tech is appropriate for the diverse set of functions a tablet is supposed to have.
I chose emerging electrowetting technology as the solution, and developed my design around its abilities. By offering the backlight free, trans-reflective daylight visibility associated with e-ink, supplemented by the refresh rates and color cababilities of LCDs, the electrowetting concept was a clear choice.
Once the appropriate technologies had been chosen, I began a styling scheme that focused on form interactions near the corners. These details would be projected to form the device's planar shape.
Shown here are several scenarios relevant to product use.
GPS, cardinal sensors, accellerometers, and twin front / rear facing cameras make the device ideal as a complete augmented reality platform.
By combining multi-touch gesture controls with pen input, the interaction and data entry capabilities are vast, encouraging application development and adoption.
When the pen is in use, touch inputs are not recognized, eliminating false readings from dragging fingers.
The completed design is simple in form, simple in use, but vast in flexibility.
By focusing on why paper is remains needed, the device is able to limit those needs by understanding that the simplicity and linear limitations of non digital media are strengths that an interface cannot overcome.
A physical control that accesses and stores pages of "digital paper" acts as an effort to emulate this concept.
In addition to creating a systemic solution, I also explored ways of overcoming the trauma of recieving an I/O infusion as well. Normally, the heavy gauge needles required to puncture the sternum wall must be driven in by hand with a great deal or force and pressure. It was decided early on to explore a pneumatic piston driven mechanism that would reduce patient discomfort and make placing an I/O port easier for medics.
Most sternal I/O devices currently being used do not administer fluids themselves. A chest mounted fixture is put in place that offers a port for syringes or IV bags. These fixtures often involve several parts that require assembly before fluids can be introduced. They also require special tools to remove needles from the patient's chest.
This seemed inadequate.
To address these inefficiencies, the new design administers a selectable dose immediately as part of insertion. A new, single piece needle head fixture was also designed. This would be the only disposable part of the system.
This needle head would be placed securely on the patient simply by using the injector, rather than installed afterward. The device is completely tool-free, making removal easy.
A standard port is integrated into the needle head to provide continued flexible access for infusions after the initial dose.
The finished product incorporates the single piece, single use needle head fixture with a reusable cast metal hand unit.
The dosage in CCs is visible via a small LCD and can be altered using corresponding + and - keys. This is the only electro - mechanical system present, powered by a single, user accessible CR type battery cell.
By carrying multiple infusion fluid canisters, and needle heads, a single medic can be better equipped, and better prepared to adapt to multi - patient scenarios.
By streamlining the sternal intraosseous infusion process, stabilizing an otherwise critical patient becomes easier, even under high stress or in moving vehicles.
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