In her course "the Manufacturing Process Design," professor Jill Urbanic tasked third-year industrial engineering students with designing a product with incorporating recycled materials wherever possible. The goal was to develop a lighting fixture and the project scope was open-ended.
The results were amazing, Dr. Urbanic says.
In four groups, the students:
- used recycled wood and a shoe rack;
- recycled glass and incorporated it into resin to create some sparkle and style;
- recycled plastic bottles using a specialty aluminum extruder; and
- designed and fabricated a classical lighting desk lamp, a model with a modular design, and an adjustable sandwich stack lighting solution.
All groups incorporated a balance of functionality and aesthetics, says Urbanic.
"The results have shown that this cohort is more than capable of shining a light on sustainability designs," she says. "I am very impressed by how they incorporated recycled materials into designs that have market appeal and can readily be scaled up to higher production volumes."
