Bend resident wins housewares student design competition

Health, safety and hydration were key themes of winning entries in the 2018 International Housewares Association’s 25th annual Student Design Competition.

The Student Design Competition’s challenge to students is to redesign a current housewares product to meet the needs of the future or to create a concept for a new product. Winning projects are selected for their innovation, understanding of production and marketing principles, and quality of entry materials.

Arizona State University graduate Lauren Emmerson from Bend, Ore., and senior Anastasia Miller from Boston shared a first place prize for their Domi Care At Home Pap Test, while Carleton University senior Ben Kaufmann from Ottawa, Canada, also earned first place for his BIO Water Distiller.

Domi Care reduces the anxiety surrounding the pap smear test and gives women confidence and control over their health without interfering with their work/social life. Women can perform the test in the comfort of their own home, and then access the results and dialogue with their doctors through the Domi Care app.

Bio Water Distiller removes toxins, bacteria and heavy metals from drinking water, and was designed for the Canadian market where more than 160 remote communities must have potable water delivered because of the contaminated water supply. The distillation system utilizes a standard five-gallon water jug and adapts to a gas and electric stove, hot plate, wood stove, etc., allowing the user to choose the lowest-cost energy source.

First-place winners will receive a $2,500 cash prize and an all-expense paid trip to Chicago for the 2018 International Home + Housewares Show, March 10-13. Their winning product concepts may be seen by 60,000 attendees and 2,200 exhibiting companies from more than 145 countries. Joining Emmerson, Miller and Kaufmann at the Show will be two second- and two third-place winners who will share $5,500 in prize money. The five winning schools will receive grants totaling $3,000.

Altogether, there were 217 entries from 29 schools, including universities in Canada, India and Israel.

Vicki Matranga, IHA’s design programs coordinator and manager of the Student Design Competition, said, “IHA’s program has become known as the gold standard for college-level competitions. Many U.S. professors assign the program annually to industrial design students because it is a real-world exercise and every entry receives feedback from two industry professionals. Students must identify user needs and opportunity spaces in the marketplace, research competitive available products, test models with users, and consider production issues.”