Huddersfield Product Design student wins global competition
Winning first prize means that Jordan has been awarded a six-month paid internship, at an Electrolux global design centre, as well as €10,000.
Tue, 20 Oct 2015 10:37:00 BST
Product Design student Jordan Martin has become the first ever UK student to win the Electrolux Design Lab 2015 competition
HUDDERSFIELD Product Design student Jordan Martin has made history after winning the final of the prestigious Electrolux Design Lab 2015 competition in Helsinki, Finland.
The competition, for which this year’s theme was Healthy Happy Kids, received thousands of entries from all around the world and was yet to be won by a UK student. Jordan, aged 22, with his concept Bloom, was one of the six finalists attending the event on 15 October in Helsinki. The winner was chosen following a ten-minute presentation by each of the finalists to a jury. Click on the link to watch Jordan's winning presentation.
Winning first prize means that Jordan has been awarded a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre, as well as €10,000.
Designed as a safe and educational cooking tool for children and the whole family to enjoy, Bloom is a novel kettle that recycles wasted steam and hot water into three separate pods which are designed for cooking, cleaning and growing plants. Accompanying the pods are multi-platform digital applications offering a selection of lessons, games and challenges, to further the child’s education.
Inspired by his brother, who has autism and through watching him learn, Jordan’s incentive was to design a device that allowed children to take part in daily routines, whilst keeping them engaged in the learning process.
“When my brother was shown a task visually, instead of just verbally,” said Jordan, “he was very capable and enjoyed being able to help out with everyday tasks. This gave me the idea for Bloom. To create a safe, entertaining and educational device for children to take part in cooking, cleaning and growing their own food.”
Another important aspect of the Bloom technology is the way it encourages families to spend time together and it can be also used by teachers as a classroom aid in schools.
“Bloom will bridge the gap between digital and practical education, teaching children about relatable processes occurring in the pod, for example, photosynthesis, the water cycle, germs and cooking,” said Jordan.
Electrolux’s Senior Vice-President of Design and Head of Jury, Lars Erikson, explained the potential of Jordan’s concept. “Based on real needs and clever use of existing technology,” he said, “This aesthetically pleasing concept has potential for multiple use, which will inspire, teach and interact with kids both emotionally, digitally and physically.”
Electrolux Design Lab has led directly to jobs and business opportunities in the design field for many of the contestants. Several of the finalists from previous years are currently employed in the Electrolux Global Design Centres.
Second prize of €6,000 was awarded to the concept Airshield, a baby stroller that creates a pure and clean microclimate, by Dominykas Budinas from Lithuania. Third prize of €4,000 was awarded to Jeongbin Seo, from South Korea, for the concept of an air purifier and hula hoop in one called Q.H[Quadruple H]. The other three finalists were from universities in Mexico, Hungary and Russia.
To watch the moment Jordan found out he had won click on this video link.
