Displaying their design penchant and innovative spirit,two students have brought laurels to the city as they have been honoured with gold and bronze awards (in the students design category) at the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) held in USA earlier this month. Akaash Dewan and Florianne Rousee Marquet,third-year students,Product Design,Pune,put forward concepts that were both interesting and utilitarian. Established in 1980,IDEA is one of the worlds most coveted award for designers. Conducted by the The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA),which is the worlds oldest member-driven society for promotion of designing,the IDEA awards are held annually across the globe. The designs by both the students were simple yet ingenious. Akaash Dewans design,One Down,is an interesting take on the mouse trap. Titled,One Down,he called it the human rat trap which uses a rodents own weight to keep it trapped. The trap rests precariously in a horizontal position on a circular foot. Bait inside lures the rat into the trap with the weight of the rat and brings the trap back to a vertical position indicating that a it has been trapped. The rat can be released instead of being killed. Sharing his idea,Dewan said,While it took me a while to conceptualize this trap,the idea itself came to me from the hit me toy . It has changed the traditional rat trap in look and even utility. Dewana is going to leave for France next week to pursue his internship. Florianne Marquet,the bronze prize winner,on the other hand made an exquisite birdhouse. A mini house for birds,one can easily install it in a flower pot on a balcony,or just hang it from a tree branch,making it convenient for both urban and country environments. The shape of the top/bottom of the house is curved,so it can collect the rain water either hanging from a balcony or a tree branch. The IDEA awards ceremony saw participation from 28 countries over the world and around 2000 projects were submitted. The jury was chaired by John Barratt,president,Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA ) and CEO,Teague. Both Dewan and Marquet were studying product designing at DSK Supinfocom International School of Design,Pune.
