Emerging designers win in inaugural Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge

The non-profit Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and Autodesk announced today the winners of their inaugural Product Design Challenge. Participants were challenged design sustainable products that meet the competition's core criterion of "remaking the way we make things". In other words, products had to be made of materials that can safely return to nature or be reused for industrial purposes. Participants submitted their design after completing a free 1-hour, online course "Designing Cradle to Cradle Certified Products for the Circular Economy".

Attracting a wide range of submission from 16 countries, a cash prize of $2,000 was awarded to the winners in three categories: Best Student Project, Best Professional Project, and Best Use of the Autodesk Fusion 360 Tool. The jury also selected an Honorable Mention to a team of students from Pratt Institute.

Check out the projects below.

Best Professional Project:

"Jerri Hobdy, an emerging furniture designer and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) graduate, took home the award for Best Professional Design with PURE|IF|HIDE, a chair and stool collection designed to fill a market need for refined, residential furniture. Hobdy’s ample use of recyclable materials, such as solvent-free, vegetable tanned leather and steel, combined with thoughtful design creates a product that can be separated into reclaimable biological and technical nutrients at the end of its use. The design accommodates easy recyclability, repair and refurbishment with new leather and colors"

Best Student Project:

"Awarded for Best Student Project, Tjitte de Wolff of the University of Twente in the Netherlands created the Venlo Bag, a 100% biodegradable bag made from 99% recycled materials meant to combat the pollution that is caused by the harmful plastic bags shoppers around the world use to take their purchases home.   “The demand for cheap, single-use shopping bags will still exist,” said de Wolff. “Therefore a Cradle to Cradle solution for plastic bags not only eliminates pollution, but also contributes to a healthy eco-system following the credo: do more good, rather than less bad."

Best Use of the Autodesk Fusion 360 Tool:

"Cole Smith, a student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute’s school of Industrial Design has been awarded with Best Use of the Autodesk Fusion 360 Tool for his design of the Finite Faucet, which is geared to help public restroom faucet users learn how to wash their hands correctly while reminding users of their impact on the environment. 

'Without the Autodesk Fusion 360 modeling tools, I would only have sketches and a vague idea of how my product could actually function,' said Smith. 'It’s one thing to sketch out an idea on paper, but quite another to figure out if the valves and switches will physically work. Fusion 360 made it much easier to measure and tweak the volumes and relative sizes of my parts to promote the Center for Disease Control’s guidelines for hand washing.'

The Finite Faucet is designed with a clear upper cylinder that acts as a visual monitor of water usage and drains until it is empty, at which point it must be turned off to refill and upon doing so, acts as a timer for scrubbing hands. The design also addresses sanitation concerns and water conservation by moving the stainless steel handle into the sink rather than out of reach of the stream."

Honorable Mention:

"In addition to the three winners, the judges awarded Honorable Mention to a team of students from Pratt Institute. The design, aptly called “MetroWay,” was inspired by the high-traffic commuter system of New York City. The team devised a thoughtful Cradle to Cradle-inspired product that emphasizes material choice, improves recovery of material stock, and instills regenerative solutions through a Circular Economic Model."