Congratulations to DCDS students honored at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in the second annual Michigan Design Prize awards ceremony. The Michigan Design Prize competition was created to highlight our state’s design strengths and to bring visibility to the field of industrial design, which combines engineering with art to create valuable design solutions to problems in society. The 2017 Michigan Design Challenge, open to students statewide, invited participants to “design a physical product solution that allows people to safely enjoy Michigan winters.” Students in the 8th grade STEAM/Art rotator class at DCDS developed a wide range of design proposals in response to this challenge, addressing winter concerns such as unsafe roads, hypothermia, and limited recreation options. All of this year's winners are currently in ninth grade.
Bronze-medal winner Arnav Shah was recognized for his innovative design solution, a tire that used the friction to heat up and melt road ice, making winter driving safer. Commended by the judges for his design’s “clever paradigm shift,” and solid research, his design idea was also notable for the positive impact it could have on Michigan residents in winter. As a competition finalist, he had the opportunity to work with an industrial design professional to develop further his initial proposal into a marketable product concept.
Also recognized at the awards ceremony were two additional DCDS teams’ proposals. Receiving Honorable Mention in the middle school category were Saborn Campbell and Gabe Nazelli for their ice-melting solar road tile concept, as well as the team of Scott Hanna, Lucas Harris, and Jack Ignatowski, whose padded winter jacket proposal used advanced materials to reduce the likelihood of injury due to falls while navigating icy walkways.
