Dimension 3D Printing announces the winners of the Extreme Redesign contest

Who will tomorrow’s engineers be? Take a look. Dimension 3D Printing, a brand of Stratasys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SSYS), announced the winners in its seventh annual Extreme Redesign 3D Printing Challenge.

The contest challenges students worldwide to submit their designs for a new product concept, a new perspective on an existing one, or a work of art or architecture. The winners were selected from an international pool of nearly 700 entries by a panel of experts from the design engineering fields.

Dimension is awarding a $2,500 scholarship to each first place winner in the categories of Middle/High School Engineering, College Engineering, and Art & Architecture. Second and third place winners will each receive a $1,000 scholarship. This year’s contest features two bonus award categories in which students competed for a $250 cash prize. The first bonus category asked students to rework the design of an existing famous building or bridge. The second bonus category challenged students to create an intriguing puzzle or game.

Instructors of the three first-place student winners receive a laptop computer for use in the classroom. Since the contest began seven years ago, more than $65,000 in scholarships has been awarded to students. Designs have been evaluated based on creativity, usefulness, part integrity and aesthetics. A list of winners follows. For full descriptions and supporting artwork of designs, visit Extreme-redesign/2011-Winners.

College Engineering Category
Rank:

1. Prone Stander: Jeremy Prince, Tennessee Tech University, Cooksville, TN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Place Design Description:
Prince says he became inspired when a local elementary school purchased an assisted stander (called a commercial prone stander) to help build leg muscle for a young student with cerebral palsy (CP). Prince’s redesign improves adjustability and functionality of the prone stander, allowing children of all different shapes and sizes with CP to be comfortable and accommodated.

 

2. Quadrarotor: Christopher Kennedy, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL

 

Quadrotors, also known as quadrocopters, quadcopters or quadrotor helicopters, are vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft propelled by four fixed-pitch rotors. Flight is controlled by varying the relative speed of each rotor. Quadrotors have recently regained interest from engineers. With the availability of small, sophisticated sensors and electronics, they are now being developed for a range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions from military support to search and rescue to wildlife surveys. Current quadrotors are generally inelegant devices made from crossed aluminum or plastic tubing. Such designs typically provide no shroud or fairing for the rotor blade, making the designs dangerous and vulnerable to impact. Molded and composite quadrotors do exist, but the designs are not easily adapted to a new mission or payload. The digitally manufactured quadrotor is safe, easily modified, and damage tolerant. The four ducts are interchangeable, making for easy repair and assembly. The design flexibility offered by digital manufacturing is critically important in small unmanned aerial vehicles, where each mission is likely to have a unique payload and unique mission requirements.

 

3. Desk2go: David Di Giuseppe & Arash Nouraee, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

There is an inherent problem with the concept of a laptop. It is unsafe to use on your lap. Current laptop design with heat management on the bottom often gets blocked and causes the laptop to overheat, which may cause health issues and poor performance. The desk2go aims to solve this problem. With desk2go, your laptop case becomes a collapsible, portable desk. Its safe platform provides a rigid, desk-like surface that prevents the laptop from overheating while allowing you to use it comfortably, virtually anywhere.

 

 

Art & Architecture Category
Rank:

1. Flip ‘n Slip: Dov Feinmesser & Aaron Hendershott, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

First Place Design Description
Chairs for young children are typically designed much as they are for adults – for sitting. Given children’s tendency to do anything but sit in a chair, potential for danger inspired the “Flip n’ Slip.” The multi-functional children’s chair can be configured various ways: as a chair that can rock back and forth, as a lounger, or as a slide. The device can also become a table surface.

2. Generative Light Fixture: Christopher Johnson, Boston Architectural College, Boston, MA

 

3. Frozen Moment: Chao Gao, Ontario College of Art and Design, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

Middle/High School Engineering Category 
Rank:

1. Doorstop: Elliott Wilm, Hinsdale Central High School, Hinsdale, IL

 

Have you ever caught yourself carrying armloads of groceries from the car to the kitchen, frustrated by opening and closing the door or creating a makeshift doorstop? This annoyance inspired a creative solution: a hidden doorstop at the bottom of the door that acts as a dead bolt, ensuring ease of use and control without an unappealing appearance. While using a piston and cam system, Wilm created a track for a rod to slide up and down when turning the knob.

2. U-watch: Arthur Dabrowski, John Paul II High School, London, Ontario, Canada

3. Universal Socket: Mason Stillman, Campbell County High School, Gillette, WY

Bonus Categories:

Building or Bridge Redesign Winner: 
Eco-Friendly Bird’s Nest Stadium: Jeeven Farias, Morris Hills High School, Rockaway, NJ

Puzzle or Game Winner:
Puzzle Sphere: Kyle WilkinsonTerre Haute South High School, Terre Haute, IN

For full descriptions and supporting artwork of designs, visit Extreme-redesign/2011-Winners.

Dimension
www.dimensionprinting.com

Stratasys, Inc.
www.stratasys.com