DS SolidWorks Corp. Announces Winners Of Green Design Contest (Photo: Business Wire)

After several months of challenging designers around the world to think outside the box about sustainability, Dassault Systèmes (DS) SolidWorks Corp. officially announces the first-ever grand prize winners and runners up of the Green Design Contest.

DS SolidWorks Corp. Announces Winners of Green Design Contest (Photo: Business Wire)

The contest, which kicked off in honor of Earth Day on April 22, required contestants to use SolidWorks® 3D CAD software to design a low-impact airport terminal chair. Contestants developed the chair for a fictitious new green airline to be mass produced for use within an airport terminal. Among other entry rules, the designs had to be tested with SolidWorks SustainabilityXpress, the environmental assessment software included within the license for SolidWorks CAD software. With SolidWorks SustainabilityXpress, contestants were asked to measure the design’s carbon footprint, air and water impacts, and energy consumption throughout the product life cycle. In addition to sustainability tests, every design had to be analyzed with SolidWorks SimulationXpress, an analysis tool built into SolidWorks, to help ensure that the chair design could withstand the stresses of everyday use.

“This contest really showcased some extremely creative and talented designers, who exhibited great understanding of the possibilities of different shapes and materials,” commented Asheen Phansey, sustainability product manager at DS SolidWorks. “Through the design entries submitted, we saw that the SolidWorks community knows that the first step toward greener products is a fundamental understanding and appreciation for effective design.”

Commercial grand prize winner Russell Donovan, of Auckland, New Zealand, will travel to Chaa Creek rainforest eco-resort in Belize in recognition for his “Leaf” chair design. Runners up in the Commercial category, who each win an iPad, include:

• Michael Kali, USA
• Xiang Ma, USA
• Ronald Majewski, USA
• Graham Nolan, United Kingdom
• Dallas Winspear, Australia

Within the Education category, the two grand prize winners: Gerard Libby of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, with his “Airfoil” chair, and Elias Chavez of Fontana, California with his bamboo chair reminiscent of a nature lodge, will be recognized for their designs at SolidWorks World. Runners-up in the Education category, who also win an iPad, include:

• Karan Ambwani, BITS, Pilani - Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
• K.S. Gopala Krishnan, Vellore Institute of Technology (India)
• Ian Jutras, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (USA)
• Vigneshkumar Kannan, Sona College of Technology (India)
• Rahul Surendran, Sona College of Technology (India)

A panel of industry and SolidWorks software experts reviewed every design and entry against judging criteria broken up by sustainability, “green” aesthetics, creativity and manufacturability. The panel of judges included Al Dean, Editor-in-Chief of Develop3D and Develop3D Sustainability magazines; Josh Mings, Editor of the popular SolidSmack blog; Solomon Diamond, Assistant Professor, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College; and, Mark Buckley, Vice President of Environmental Affairs for Staples Inc. SolidWorks employees that assisted with judging included Stephen Endersby, Simulation Product Manager; Asheen Phansey, Sustainability Product Manager; and Rick Chin, Director of Product Innovation.

“Sustainable design is a very complex subject, and it is hard to understand and reduce environmental impacts that we can’t see every day,” said Phansey. “We sponsored the Green Design Contest to create greater awareness of how SolidWorks Sustainability can enable users to incorporate product life cycle thinking into their designs and tangibly reduce the environmental impacts.”

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