Michael was inspired by the Nintendo Wii to come up with Reactiv - a responsive cycling jacket.
The jacket uses an accelerometer that senses movement to change the colour of the LEDs in the back from green (accelerating) to red (braking). It has amber LEDs in the arms which are activated by a tilt switch behind the elbow. These light up when the arm is lifed, indicating the cyclist is about to turn.
A friend who volunteered to wear the jacket, was subjected to hours of iterations, masking tape and an achy arm, while Michael determined the ideal place for the switch.
Reactiv allows the cyclist to communicate their intentions to other travellers and thus it will hopefully reduce the 20,000 incidents involving cyclists on London's roads every year.
British judges were impressed by the simplicity and effectiveness of Michael's design.

The team took on the challenge of developing a single-handed braking system for their fourth-year biological engineering course. Their inspiration was Lauren, a nine-year old girl who was unable to safely operate a bike because she couldn’t access the left-hand brake lever due to a birth defect on her left hand.
SHBBL incorporates both brake levers onto one handlebar. It works with all cable braking systems and conversion is simple. Operating in the same way as a standard brake lever, the transition is relatively seamless for the user.
Bicycles require two hands to operate safely. However, there are many situations where only one hand is available for braking, either due to physical disabilities or when the other hand is signalling. SHBBL solves this problem.
Preliminary testing has revealed that, when compared to high performance bicycles, SHBBL reduces braking distance by half.

Talia’s projects, including Ergoskin, have been displayed at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna.
Ergoskin is a type of functional underwear for use following physiotherapy. Integrated measurement sensors are placed at critical points on the back of the patient. If the sensors detect that the wearer has an unhelpful posture, the sensors will send out impulses to the surface of the skin - a call to action for the patient to correct the posture of the back.
Ergoskin convinced the Austrian jury due to its functionality, the spirit of innovation and the product design.

The Powercleat was Paul's 4th year major project during his Industrial Design course. He was inspired to develop the Powercleat based on his own sailing experiences.
The Powercleat is a simple but effective device designed to overcome current sailing safety issues whereby lines left lying around the deck can easily tangle and become potential trip hazards to yachtsmen, making them difficult to use.
The Australian judges were impressed with both the simplicity and the engineering skills behind the design, reaching the consensus that this is an almost flawless product.

Morten studied at the prestigious Umå University in Sweden - a leading source of engineering expertise in the Scandinavian region.
He worked closely with the Swedish Ambulance Academy on his project, the Caterpillar Scoop Stretcher.
The stretcher has stair climbing capabilities which allow ambulance workers to bring patients downstairs without lifting. The unit also has a detatchable "scoop" element making it multi-functional and making the rescue situation faster and more effective.
With the Caterpillar Scoop Stretcher, patients can be moved by a single paramedic, enabling the second paramedic to carry equipment and the patient's belongings.

Julie studied for two years to gain a diploma in Industrial Design before pursuing Design Conception and Creation of Products in her final year.
Her line of ready to wear focuses on the needs of the elderly, offering a solution to the problem of physical independence. Her work focused on placing pleats in strategic positions on the clothes and she studied the body's freedom of movement and selected special materials. The clothes in the range are optimised so that dressing for the elderly becomes easier.
For the elderly, the simplest tasks like putting on a pair of trousers or a vest become more and more difficult, even painful. Julie's project creates a simple solution which could give elderly people more independence.
The French jury was impressed by how Julie addressed a current social issue with her project and designed clothes that work to make life better.

During his studies Gert-Jan became interested in products that make a big impact on their user's environment. The Reef Explorer was inspired by recurring ear infections he had as a child which damaged his inner ear, preventing him from learning to dive. He started to look for ways in which he could still experience the underwater world.
The Reef Explorer has a multi-hull design which is extremely stable at speed and is almost unsinkable. It has glass sides offering an exciting view of the underwater world. Driven by solar energy, it is non-polluting and environmentally friendly. The special hull creates less waves and minimizes the contact between man and sea life.
The Reef Explorer offers a new and alternative way to explore the underwater world, in a safe and eco-friendly way. It offers people who can't dive or snorkel the opportunity to experience the underwater world. It is also designed to counter the negative effect that tourism can have on coral reefs and their surrounding environment.

Laura studied Industrial Design and from early on expressed a keen inerest in all things green. Her projects ranged from products that use recycled materials or clean manufacturing, to creations that inspire people to think about the environmental impact of everyday living.
Cultivate is a computer that promotes and enhances a sustainable lifestyle. It is shaped like a tree, with ten modules at the end of ten branches. Each module houses a component of the computer, and is connected to the motherboard in the trunk. Each module can easily be replaced when it becomes obsolete - which is increasingly frequent in the computer industry.
Not only does Cultivate increase the lifespan of the computer and its components, but it also encourages the user to think about the other products they use and how they affect the environment. It challenges the user to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. In this way, Cultivate promotes sustainable choices in all aspects of life, from choosing products and how they are used, to their disposal or reuse.

For the final year of his Industrial Design course, Nicola is focussing on sustainable product design. Mauro recently graduated in Economics.
Their project, Doccia Morbida, is an innovative and environmentally friendly shower system. Its special shower head, made of a spongy polymer, can be used like a glove. The product fits neatly into the hand and can even be used to give massages. The main objective was to radically change the structure of a simple product such as a shower head, by choosing a new shape and new materials to enhance its function and make it environmentally friendly.
Its innovative ergonomic shape is an intelligent way to reduce water consumption by ensuring the shower head is close to the body. Doccia Morbida also aims to reduce environmental impact by using recyclable materials.

Kugaku was inspired by his experience in Japanese hospitals, where there can be long waiting times to be seen for relatively minor conditions. Waiting in an enclosed environment alongside other sick people can often spread illness so he looked for a way in which this could be prevented.
He also noted the increasing numbers of children with unhealthy eating habits. He realised that going to school without eating breakfast, avoiding healthy foods at school and never sitting down to eat together with the family could be addressed by raising awareness of the minerals lacking in a child's diet.
On the premise that it is possible to understand how healthy the body is by analysing excrement, HMT was devised. By observing the smell, colour and hardness, the user can build a picture of their health. HMT could be used to send a daily record to the doctor enabling advice to be given when needed.

Stephen was inspired to design the Arctic Skin hydration vest upon seeing Kiwi athlete Craig Barrett collapse with heat exhaustion, only 300 metres from the finish line at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.
Arctic Skin is a cooling hydration vest for athletes. It contains an insulated water bladder that supplies drinking water on the run. With a squeeze of a rubber pump near the shoulder, the athelete can redirect controlled amounts of the water into a radiator-like rubber vein system within the vest.
This hydration system mimics the process of human sweat by cooling and then seeping into the sports wool of the vest. The vest is a portable device designed to cool an endurance athelete's body core, and maintain constant temperature for up to six hours, enabling them to maintain an optimal physical performance for longer periods while competing.

Elisa, Jesús and Jorge's project, HOB BIE, addresses energy consumption in cooking as well as opening up new possiblities for cooking tools. Automatic pan recognition sensors mirror the exact shape of the pan in use, therefore only using the necessary amount of energy for cooking.
Regular induction hobs are usually limited by the shape of the plates, which on one hand restricts the design of the pan and on the other, creates a waste of energy. HOB BIE addresses this energy wastage and opens up new commercial opportunities.

Adrian Weidmann studied a course in Industrial Design.
His project, Loc+ has a double function: it is a bike lock which can be permenantly fixed to a bicycle and a light system incorporating headlight and backlight. When someone is cycling, the light system is used in a normal way. When the user stops, the light system is part of the lock and cannot be removed.
Loc+ aims to give the user maximum protection and security. By combining the lock and the light system, the performance and functional aspects of the product are greatly enhanced.

Rake N Take is a device for gathering leaves and yard debris. The head is attached to the bottom by a simple slide sleeve connection surrounding the elongated handle. A cam lock mechanism is attached toward the upper portion of the sleeve which, when released, allows for a back and forth motion.
As the slide sleeve element moves forward, the top of the rake-like head bends trapping the material between the top and bottom portions of the head. The entrapped material can then be lifted and disposed of to a desired destination with ease.
This system aims to reduce the time and effort associated with the leaf collection process with little or no environmental impact.