NOVA Fab Lab Design Challenge 2021 Winners
On July 14th the NOVA Fab Lab held an in-person awards ceremony to recognize the 2021 Design Challenge winners, alongside their family members and friends, who were able to see their fabricated designs, meet the judges, receive their prizes and participate in a Fab Lab tour!
The Design challenge consisted of secondary and post-secondary students designing a product that would interact with a common household item to create a toy or game, to “make something amazing out of something ordinary.” Participants were judged based upon digital designs and written descriptions. The top three then had their winning designs fabricated in the lab (using a Stratasys F370 3D printer) and received them for the first time at the ceremony.
The 1st place award was won by a two-person team consisting of Charlotte Miller and Michael Neal for their product titled, Puzzle Knot. Numerous rubber bands are hooked and interwoven through the cubical structure of the product and then the user must try to unravel the resultant knot. This team won the top prize of an Ultimaker Original+ 3D printer, one year of Solidworks design software, certificate plaques, and their fabricated product.
Ines Kapur earned 2nd place with her Corkables design. Inspired by a childhood craft project (which she still has today), Ines created a series of fun animal faces and legs which attached to either end of a cork. These could then be personalized several ways. Ines received a voucher for a free product development consultation with Storycraft Lab, one year of Solidworks design software, certificate plaque, and her fabricated product.
The 3rd place award went to Oscar Platt for his Spyn Art Machine, which incorporated multiple 3D-printed parts such as cranks, gears, and pins into an assembly capable of making spirograph art on its spinning circular surface. Oscar received one year of Solidworks design software, a certificate plaque, and multiple fabricated versions of his design.
All participants had a chance to hear from the judges and explore the Fab Lab space. A guided tour was provided after the event with an emphasis on the additive manufacturing technology (3D printing) used to create the winning design prototypes. Awards, support, and volunteer judges were provided by our sponsors the Amtek Company, Storycraft Lab, and Micron. Special thanks to our judges including, Alex Baddock with the Amtek Company, Naomi Claire Crellin with Storycraft Lab, and Afnan Ali with Lockhead Martin. #WeDoSTEM
Original Tweet about the event
Quote Tweet by NOVA President, Dr. Kress