UNSW Built Environment: Eric Chau

 

Hi my names Eric Chau and I’m currently studying industrial design in my fourth year at UNSW. Entrepreneurship has always been lingering in the back of my mind but I have never had enough confidence to pursue it at this stage of life, however things have changed since I entered the TIE Clash of the titans youth pitching competition. It all started when I enrolled into the entrepreneurial course and was notified of a pitching competition and its prize – A trip to Silicon Valley to attend the TIECON 2011 with expenses paid.

Entering the TIE Clash of the titans youth pitching competition has been an experience which has been life changing ever since. The whole process from the preparation of the pitch to meeting successful entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley has enabled me to learn so much in a short amount of time. Everything has happened so quickly, from having 1 week to organize my trip to the USA and having up to 6 assignments due when I was to arrive back in Australia. This has taught me the value of time management.

The whole trip to the TIECON in the valley entailed so many highlights. The whole conference was packed with a variety of like minded people which ranged from entrepreneurs to venture capitalists all gathering around pitching business ideas and networking. I loved the atmosphere, environment and the drive everyone at the conference had, I also took advantage of this and networked with people from all over the world who attended this conference. The other main highlight attending this conference was the amount of information I have absorbed in from the various keynote speakers and guest panel speakers. All of the speakers were very inspiring in giving talks on their insights to the highs and lows of becoming an entrepreneur.

 

UNSW Built Environment: Industrial Design student wins the Cole Classic Ocean Swim

2010 Industrial Design Final year student Luane Rowe has won the Cole Classic ocean swim for the second time! The Sydney Morning Herald Cole Classic is Australia’s largest ocean swim, and this year hosted a record amount of participants with over 4100 people swimming either a 1km or 2km course from Shelley Beach to Manly Beach. Rowe was the winner of the 2km Women’s Elite Swim, completing the course in 26 minutes and 13 seconds. Rowe has competed in the classic for the past eight years. She won the women’s event last year, and finished third overall.

Rowe was a member of the UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design graduating class for 2010. Her passion for open water swimming became the theme for her major final year project. Luane investigated endurance swimming and designed FuelUp – an sustenance delivery system for open water swimming. The design included an on-the-go sustenance cap with gel packs inserted into the cap. The gel is consumed by the swimmer through a straw, allowing the swimmer to continue with little disturbance over short distances. Rowe also designed an apparatus (pictured below) that included a belt and pole supporting two cups of sustenance liquid that can be held out to the swimmer. This apparatus would be typically used to help sustain swimmers for longer distances.

Luane Rowe's 2010 Industrial Design Graduation project - FuelUp

We congratulate Luane on her achievements in the Cole Classic, and wish her all the best for next year.

For more information on Luane’s achievement, please see the below news articles:

Manly Daily – Rowe too hot in Cole Classic

Sydney Morning Herald – Luane hopes nine is a lucky omen in Cole Classic

UNSW Built Environment: 2010 Graduand Catalogues

Our 2010 UNSW Built Environment Graduand Catalogues have been released for viewing. These catalogues showcase the achievements of our 2010 of our graduating students – congratulations to all those involved.

If you would like to view the various graduand catalogues, please click the links below.

Architectural Computing

Architecture (BArch)

Industrial Design

Landscape Architecture

Master of Architecture (MArch)

UNSW Built Environment: Cormack Innovation Awards

Congratulations to our 3rd year Industrial Design students who did very well at the Cormack Innovation Awards last night. Eight of our students were among the top 20 finalists, competing with 3rd year students from other Australian Universities.

Awards to UNSW students went to:

Joseph Luis Tan – First prize  view Joseph’s winning design here

Eric Chau – Second prize and AIP scholarship

Michael Brock – Third prize

Tristan Dimitroff – Highly Commended

An equal Third prize and two other Highly Commended awards went to Industrial Design students at UTS.

Visit the website for more information – www.cormackia.com.au

UNSW Built Environment: Industrial Design student wins James Dyson Award

Sam Adeloju, UNSW BE Industrial Design student, was just announced as the winner of the $16,000 James Dyson Award for the design of a device that could save swimmers from drowning. Sam’s design, named Longreach, with the unofficial name “Buoyancy Bazooka”, shoots an emergency flotation device 150m out to sea. Made from hydrophobic foam, the buoy can expand up to 40 times its size on contact with water so the swimmer can stay afloat without the risk the buoy will spring a leak. The device is also equipped with flares for night time.

Sam is the first Australian to win the award in five years, and is in talks with Surf Life Saving Australia about conducting field trials. Winning this prize will give the Longreach international exposure.

Sam will recieve $16 000 in prize money, and a trip to the Dyson laboratories in Britain. UNSW will also receive $16,000 for Sam’s fantastic achievement.

For a full article on Sam’s achievement, click here.

UNSW Built Environment: 2010 Southern Cross Awards (Industrial Design)

The Australian Packaging Awards (APA) provide companies in the packaging supply chain with the opportunity to showcase their products, packaging and people on a national stage. Success at the APA has helped previous winners – attract new clients, reward employees, boost company profile within the industry and help draw the best talent to their organisation.
Congratulations to our following Industrial Design students for their success in this national competition

Danielle Taouk “Decoded” Silver in her category and Commendation for Judges Rationale (Overall Award)
Stanley Darmawan “Nuit Blanche” Prize: Commendation
Shanshan Wang “Glacious” Prize: Commendation
Alfred Boyadgis “Majestic” Prize: Commendation

Xiao Ling Li “Norwegian Wood” Prize: Commendation

UNSW Built Environment Event: Utzon 2010 Lecture Series

Tomorrow night is the next installment in the UNSW Utzon lecture series “E-waste designing out obsolescence” by Dr Miles Park. Click here to register!

Products normally described as ‘consumer durables’ are now often regarded as ‘consumables’. The lifespans for many consumer electronics, notably personal computers and mobile phones, is now often measured in months and not years. Each year approximately 17 million televisions and computer related products reach their end of life. Last year we bought 2.4 million new computers and sent 1.6 million old computers to landfill. In addition 800,000 were put into storage while there are an estimated 14-16 million unused or broken mobile phones hidden in desks and drawers across the country. This electronic waste or e- waste is growing at three times the rate of other categories of municipal waste. As these discarded products breaks down, dangerous toxins leach into the groundwater, contaminating soil, waterways and ultimately our health. For example, a standard sized cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor contains more than two kilos of lead. What is being done to tackle this complex global problem? What has been the role of the designer in the making of the e-waste crisis and where are the opportunities and solutions for solving this crisis?

Also, check out Professor Robert Freestone’s packed out lecture “Urban Nation: Australia’s planning heritage”

UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: LeNS Design Competition

The LeNS design competition offered a brief to create or improve an already existing Product-Service System (PSS). Instead of being focused on “traditional” forms of sale, ownership, consumption and disposal of products, the PSS was meant to be centered on delivering a function, or better still, a satisfaction to the user.

For this project we focused on our Australian context and came with the idea of MumMyCare. We designed a loan system that minimizes travel, times, and risks of complications for pregnant mothers while visiting the doctor. MumMyCare brings pregnant women the sense of security and convenience during their pregnancy period through regular online interaction with their doctors and self-testing equipment. Test results are sent via the product. For us this project came along quite nicely and we are proud to achieve Mention of Honour at international level.

Ronald Turinuddin, Raymond Vuong, Joseph Louis Tan, Phillip Serna, Joshua Cope-Summerfield

MummyMyCare Team

UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: Daniel Sutherland

Trellum

Hi Everybody,

I just finished my second last semester of Uni..8/10 already completed so definitely hoping these last few go quickly and painlessly. While many say that your final year at Uni is the hardest, honestly I think that it’s all relative – the work is harder for sure.. but you’ve gained the skills to deal with it just as in every year previously – so don’t stress!

I have found though, that working part-time is almost impossible in this final year and pretty much pointless, as you just won’t be able to commit to the kind of hours you might have in previous years. You should also be able to enjoy this “senior year”, both in the work your doing and the things happening outside of this – uni years could be some of the best years. Despite this, we do need money and especially in the final semester of 4th year IDES, as major project costs between $1000 – $4000 out of your own pocket (not covered by fees) – depending on your specific project.

SO.. if money looks like being an issue for you then save hard during the summer / winter breaks, hit up the government before they hit you up for their HECS Debt (get on Youth Allowance if your full-time and qualify or Newstart if your over 21 and are doing less than 18 units), get a loan from your parents, resort to thievery & stripping OR complete your final year part-time while working (as I have done to an extent, but still find little to no time to work).

ALSO: try to choose a project topic that won’t end up needing a large and complex model (mine will be smaller than a tennis ball – which should keep my costs below about $1200 I figure). I chose the topic area of digital communicative products (mainly portable) and associated trends within communication – most of the products here are smaller than a laptop, hence it’s likely my final design will be as well.

Shown here are some eg’s of the projects I’ve done this semester. Most were for actual competitions, of which I got short-listed for the Reece Bathroom comp. ($10k on offer for 1st prize) and got to present the Dynamo product to some Colgate-Palmolive project managers at their HQ office in the city (where I got a bag of toothpaste, laundry detergent and what not – sweeeet).

Reece Bathroom

Dynamo Packaging

Point here is: pressure your lecturers into giving you more actual competition briefs earlier in the degree or at least work extra hard when you do get given one (like the Southern Cross Packaging comp. in 2nd yr) – getting short-listed really isn’t hard and looks great on your resume; sadly, I don’t think any employer in the industry cares about the subjective marks that our lecturers allocate when others present a slick portfolio, copies of magazines or websites their work appeared in, and certificates from large corporations acknowledging the quality of this work.

More visual stuff on my major project next semester, as semester one of project deals mainly with research and text.

Electrolux

Mini Vac

UNSW Built Environment Exhibition: 20 Years of Industrial Design