Living off-grid: design competition seeks products to promote self-sufficiency
Products that don’t require conventional power sources to function are being sought by the Design Innovation in Plastics (DIP) competition for its 2024 award.
Creative designers interested in working with plastics have been asked to design a product that can work off-grid, using anything from solar, wind, tidal, thermal, kinetic, or bio and mechanical energy sources.
The 2024 competition, headline sponsored by Covestro, will be contested by university undergraduates all over the UK and Ireland. It is asking them to design a functional item which is an original concept or a significant improvement on an existing product – and made primarily from plastic. The product must be aimed at the domestic or sports and leisure markets.
Students must submit their projects by March 31, when a panel of industry judges will examine the entries and choose their finalists. The award ceremony takes place on July 5.
Chairman of DIP, Martin Sixsmith, said: "This is a challenging but dynamic brief which will encourage undergraduates to make creative use of the versatility of plastics. We’ll be looking primarily at the design concepts rather than the minute detail of the mechanism of the product, however the mechanism does need to be feasible, in principle, based on research. There are plenty of ideas out there from which to draw inspiration. Some examples are highlighted on the entries page of our website, which students are encouraged to look at."
Design Innovation in Plastics is the longest running plastics competition of its kind in Europe, having been established in 1985. It is supported by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Worshipful Company of Horners and sponsored by leading design and plastics organisations, including Covestro.
About the Design Innovation in Plastics Award:
Established in 1985, Design Innovation in Plastics is the longest running student plastics design award in the UK and Ireland. For more information visit: www.designinnovationplastics.org
The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) is a major UK engineering institution and is the professional body for the advancement of materials, minerals and mining to governments, industry, academia, the public and the professions. For more information visit www.iom3.org
The Worshipful Company of Horners is one of the oldest livery companies in the City of London, formed to regulate the horn-working trade. In 1943 it adopted its modern equivalent, the plastics industry. For more information visit www.horners.org.uk
About Covestro:
Covestro is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. Covestro supplies customers around the world in key industries such as mobility, building and living, as well as the electrical and electronics sector. In addition, polymers from Covestro are also used in sectors such as sports and leisure, cosmetics and health, as well as in the chemical industry itself.
The company is committed to becoming fully circular and is striving to become climate neutral by 2035 (scope 1 and 2). Covestro generated sales of EUR 18 billion in fiscal 2022. At the end of 2022, the company had 50 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 18,000 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).
Forward-looking statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.