Red Dot Ranking is a reflection of the designs created by
students over a five year-period. This year's winning student
projects from Umeå institute of Design (UID) range from innovative
tools for telecom tower technicians to equipment for the next
generation of intensive care units.
"For a small industrial design school like Umeå Institute of
Design, this result is a clear recognition of the pool of top
talent that can always be found here. It's a confirmation of the
quality of the work that our students deliver and it's testament to
our dedication to prepare skilled and responsible designers willing
to tackle the challenges of tomorrow", says Demian Horst, Head of
Umeå Institute of Design.
An intelligent helmet for high altitudes
One of the UID student projects that received special honours at
the Red Dot awards is a design concept for a high-tech helmet,
called SYNC, improving communications for telecom technicians
climbing high-rise telecom towers. The operators typically work in
extreme conditions that challenge the senses; strong winds, noisy
surroundings, dusty environments or extremely cold conditions. The
helmet, developed by Yilin Lyu, integrates a wide-angle camera,
lidar scanner, laser sensor, earphone, and a microphone, allowing
telecom technicians to communicate intuitively with team members
and helicopter pilots in real-time.
A design concept for a high tech helmet,
called SYNC, is one of the projectet awarded by Red Dot.
Yilin Lyu is from China and is currently studying the second
year of the Master's Programme in Advanced Product Design. She
believes that "the UID spirit" is the secret recipe behind the
record number of top spots on the Red Dot ranking.
"I think all the awards and rankings are probably best explained
by the quite unique atmosphere that exists at UID. As a student
here I am able to learn a lot, not only from tutors, but also from
my classmates. Throughout my education, the school has supported me
a lot, not just during the projects, but also in my personal
development", says Yilin Lyu.
Pioneering the next generation of intensive care units
Another of the winning UID student projects explored new design
solutions for vital sign monitoring in an intensive care unit
(ICU). The student team - consisting of Jacob Jensen, Johannes
Rieder, Marius Kindler, Tim Schwarz - identified a pain point
relating to the messy jumble of cables that characterises ECG
monitoring systems in today's hospitals. The student design team
developed a single-cable solution that feeds data wirelessly into
the existing monitoring systems. The sensor, called Array, can be
adjusted to different body shapes and its minimal shape makes it
easy to clean, intuitive to handle and declutters the patient's
appearance.
In the project Array design solutions for
measuring heart activity in intensive care units were
developed.
"Array hopefully represents the next generation of the ECG
monitoring setup, where less cables are being used. We believe that
it can be implemented into the current practices of intensive care.
It is designed to help streamline the workflow of health care
professionals and improve the patient's comfort during intensive
care treatment", says Tim Schwarz.
About Red Dot Design Ranking
The Red Dot Design Ranking for Design Concept
recognises pioneering design concepts created by enterprises and
institutions. It is a reflection of sustainable design and
innovation capability withing an organisation. The ranking takes
into account all levels of awards at the Red Dot Award for Design
Concept over the past five years and ranked into six distinct
honorary lists for Companies, Design Studios and Universities, in
the Americas & Europe and Asia Pacific regions.
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology emerged
to claim first position at the list for Universities in Asia
Pacific, with Massey University and Dalian Minzu University ranked
second and third. Umeå Institute of Design and Savannah College of
Art and Design maintained their first and second in the list for
Universities in Americas & Europe for the sixth consecutive
year while University of Montreal, School of Design made
significant achievements this year and is now at #3 in the list for
Universities in Americas & Europe.
