Building Science Industrial Design
Collaborative Project
The project is a unique collaborative effort between the School of Building Science,
the Department of Industrial and Graphic Design, the Office of Technology Transfer
at Auburn University, and executives representing the construction industry. Sponsored
by Alabama Construction Industry Fund, the project began during the summer of 2006,
when construction executives identified unique problems on jobsites that might be
lessened or alleviated by modifying or designing a construction tool, product, or
process.
The Industrial Design students, working in conjunction with their Building Science
teammates and construction executive partners, develop solutions to the unique problems
posed by the construction industry. The Office of Technology Transfer files provisional
patents for all solutions posed by the students.
At the end of the semester, each industrial design student provides the following
information:
- A full scale model of the final proposed product. The model is operational if possible;
otherwise it is an appearance model. The materials used in the model addresses accuracy
of appearance over replication of final suggested material used in manufacture.
- A set of scaled drawings, with suggested material specifications, along with photographic
documentation of the final full scale model.
- Full documentation of the entire design process for each student team, to include
all concepts / drawings accepted and rejected. Documentation of all resources used
to gather information pertinent to the design developed.
Since its inception in 2006, the program has resulted in seven refereed faculty
publications, two funded grant proposals, two licensing agreements and one pending
non-provisional patent application, and continues to evolve. More importantly, students
in both curriculums have gained significant experience while collaborating to solve
real-world problems.
A 2008 Project, Designed by Robert Donovan (US Patent Pending)
A pair of simple tape measure anchoring accessories that facilitate rapid, accurate
and repeatable layout measurements. This simple, straight forward spring clamp design
attaches to materials between 1 & 1.5” thick, providing a secure tape measure anchor
point at the inside face of the formwork. The tape hook anchor puck rotates 360°
to allow multiple measurements from the same origin point without re-hooking the
tape measure (or moving the anchor clamp).
*If you would like to see more examples check out these links
For more information on this or other collaborative projects
please contact Professor Steve Williams at willi14@auburn.edu