From food choppers to calming environments for children, ISU industrial design students to showcase innovative projects May 13-14 at Student Innovation Center

Above: “Eclose” calming space for children by Seth Wilhelm

AMES, Iowa — “Have you ever wanted to chop carrots quickly and effectively, but ended up with baby food?”

Discover solutions to this problem and over 150 more as the Iowa State University Department of Industrial Design celebrates student innovation and creativity with two public events this week.

“Shaping What’s Next: Spring 2025 Industrial Design Exhibition” will be from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, in the Student Innovation Center atrium.

The end-of-semester exhibition will feature the work of 82 sophomores and 22 students in the undergraduate Product Realization and graduate Technical Soft Goods experiential studios. The departmental award ceremony will begin at 2 p.m.

Fifty graduating seniors will share their final thesis studio projects in “Designing Futures in Motion: Spring 2025 Industrial Design Senior Show” from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, also in the Student Innovation Center atrium.

Both events are come-and-go. Students will exhibit digital presentations — and some physical models — and be available to answer questions.

Premium men’s razor

For their first project of the spring semester, students in the Product Realization studio developed a new product as an extension of a mass retailer’s existing store brand.

Junior Tyler Harrington, from Crystal Lake, Illinois, chose to extend Target’s Goodfellow & Co. men’s clothing line with grooming products, designing a premium men’s razor that fits with the brand’s “timeless simplicity,” he said.

Due to the razor’s organic and elegantly simple design, Harrington found it challenging to “change my visualization sketches into three-dimensional models. Through the guidance of my peers and instructors, I was able to successfully build a 3D model that mirrors the conceptualization sketches I designed.”

Artisan food chopper

For their final project in that same studio, students were tasked with pitching a new product in any retail category. Harrington proposed the Auri Co. Artisan, an electric food chopper that “promotes precision in food preparation.”

When researching existing top brands, Harrington found “there were no real solutions to precisely distinguish between chopping, grinding and pureeing food. Essentially, the problem can be put simply as: ‘Have you ever wanted to chop carrots quickly and effectively, but ended up with baby food?’”

To solve this problem, Harrington designed a quad-blade system featuring a blunt edge and a sharp edge on four stainless steel blades to achieve the desired results, depending on the function selected.

Beyond the specifics of each project, Harrington learned valuable lessons related to product realization at mass-retailer levels, he said.

“Learning the [differences] between internal and external stakeholders in the development of a product was eye-opening because it helped [me gain] a new perspective into all the parties involved in making something real,” he said.

He also discovered “the amount of work done to make a product ready to pitch… from exact shelf location with its accompany meaning for marketing or sales, to the exact pricing strategy to make a project competitive with other brands.”

Expandable shelving

Angela Manno designed her senior project, “Clever,” as an adaptable shelving unit that can change with the user’s needs.

Tasked with designing a product that fits into an 18-inch-square space, Manno, also from Crystal Lake, Illinois, first created a plant stand that could expand with a growing plant collection (as her own had taken over a table) or be reconfigured for different plant needs.

“As I created this project, I realized that this shelving could be expanded beyond plants” to accommodate books and other objects, she said.

After graduation, Manno, who holds her private pilot’s license, plans to complete her ratings to become a commercial airline pilot and potentially create learning materials for student pilots using the sketchnoting skills she’s learned in the Iowa State industrial design program.

Drink-tampering detectors

Senior Sarah Scheer, from Iowa City, sought to improve public safety in bars, clubs and restaurants by creating products that identify drink tampering.

Her “SipStick” project began with a chemical-detecting lipstick that changes color when it comes in contact with foreign substances commonly used to spike drinks. She then expanded the line to include additional anti-tampering products, including “The Straw Shade,” a specially designed straw that also changes color in the presence of contaminants, topped by an umbrella that covers the opening of a glass to prevent substances from being introduced to begin with.

“My goal for this project was to incorporate everything I have learned throughout my time at Iowa State,” Scheer said.

A calming space for classrooms

Seth Wilhelm’s senior project, “Eclose,” is a transformative solution to the need for calming spaces in schools, he said. Wilhelm focused on creating a modular, sensory-friendly environment tailored for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and emotional regulation challenges.

The tear-drop-shaped enclosure features sensory-friendly materials and customizable components, making it easy to fit into different classroom layouts. It aims to meet students’ and teachers’ practical and emotional needs by focusing on privacy, durability, aesthetics and affordability, said Wilhelm, from Dubuque.

“Eclose aligns closely with the field of industrial design I wish to pursue, especially in creating functional and thoughtful furniture solutions,” he said. “I’m passionate about accessibility, and I’d love to work with educational and hospitality organizations to create products that promote well-being and cater to a wide array of needs.”

Contacts

Tyler Harrington, Junior, Industrial Design, tylerh02@iastate.edu
Angela Manno, Graduating Senior, Industrial Design, angelam3@iastate.edu
Sarah Scheer, Graduating Senior, Industrial Design, scscheer@iastate.edu
Seth Wilhelm, Graduating Senior, Industrial Design, sethfw@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Director of Strategic Communications, College of Design, hsauer@iastate.edu

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