Industrial design students stretch their creativity

By ASU News Service

Can a washer and dryer look like art and not lose function? Industrial design students in a senior product design studio at Appalachian State University think so, and they proved their point during a presentation to designers from Bosch and Siemens (BSH) Home Appliances in New Bern.

“Bosch asked the senior studio students to work on concepts for new ways to wash and dry clothes,” said Banks Talley, an assistant professor in Appalachian’s Department of Technology.

BSH contributed $15,000 to sponsor the studio class to offset the cost of student travel to their New Bern facility and for materials the students used for the project.

“When we are in the day to day of designing new appliances, we look at a lot of different things for fresh ideas,” said BSH designer Andrew Roberson. “Having the students come up with new ideas is valuable for us.”

The students designed washers and dryers for various consumer demographics and presented their concepts to designers from Bosch. Some students created full-scale and half-scale models of their project, some used computer animation to present their work and others prepared full-scale printouts.

“Some students designed products for the upper middle class urban professional, or designed a machine with a sculptural appearance that would look beautiful in a downtown apartment as opposed to being tucked away in a mudroom or laundry room,” Talley said.

One design had a custom cover that could be changed much like the cover or “skin” for a laptop computer. One system was designed to be incorporated into a kitchen and hidden by panels, much like many of the higher-end refrigerator-freezers. Another student concept incorporated “green technology.”

“Supporting schools in the state where we live and work is important for us,” said design director Joachim Gruetzke.

“A project like this enriches the design community in North Carolina and also in our schools,” Roberson said.
BSH Home Appliances opened its New Bern manufacturing facility in 1997. It produces some washers, dryers and dishwashers, ranges, ovens and cooktops for the U.S. market.