George Owen
Industrial Design
Final year project
Support System to Promote Neutral Posture When Using Garden Tools. [Read more]
Support System
Ageing individuals struggle with lifting and manoeuvring garden tools that are often big and heavy. Over time this can lead to muscle fatigue and significant pain due to the imbalances in their posture when operating these tools. My design proposal is a support system to promote a more neutral posture when using garden tools. This will in turn improve the user's experiences through distributing the weight of the garden tools directly through the user's hips, enabling the use of the product for hours whilst minimising fatigue and stress on the user.
Support System
The backpack has an outer casing that protects the support systems internal parts. This casing also has pegs and ledges for storing spare parts for garden tools, making it easier for the user to replace cutting parts and insert a new battery if required.
Support System
Functional prototype undergoing evaluation with a hedge trimmer. The backpack has a metal pole attached to the lower section around the waist, which goes over the users head where a metal wire comes down and attaches to the garden tool. The wire is spring balanced and ensures that the tool's load is distributed through the users' hips, relieving the pressure of the individuals' arms, neck, shoulders and lower back.
Support System
The design has been optimised to reduce material usage and increase the ease of disassembly to improve sustainability. The pole is manufactured from steam-bent bamboo veneer and recycled foam is used within the backpack as padding.
Drill
A detailed Solidworks CAD surface redesign of a power drill. This project involved 3D scanning a physical drill object and using this data to generate a CAD model through surface modelling techniques.
Drill
Surface quality and control was the primary goal for this project. A close up render shows how the model is highly detailed and curvature continuous throughout.
Wall Weights
Wall-mounted dumbbell fitness weights that blend into any home. The storage unit holds two weights in the centre that can be removed and assembled into a dumbbell. The dumbbell handle is simply placed on the top of the unit in a pocket. Hidden in plain sight, these dumbbells can be stored in any room, and be used at a moment's notice.
Wall Weights
The plastic casing can be fully disassembled and is split into two sections. Heavy-duty screws are used to secure the casing to the wall and ensure that the weights do not damage the wall surface. The metal handle has threaded ends that the weight plates screw into when in use as a dumbbell.
George Owen
A considerate and dedicated designer with a passion for problem solving, team work and connecting with others.
Through my experiences at the university and the placement, I have honed a robust skillset that specialises in CAD, model-making and business. I am looking forward to pushing my skills further as a designer in the industry and beyond.
Final year project
Support System to Promote Neutral Posture When Using Garden Tools.
Awards
'20 Diploma in International Studies
Work Experience
In my third year at Loughborough University, I was nominated to participate in a six-month exchange program to TU Delft in The Netherlands. I studied both Bachelors and Masters modules that broadened my perspective of design, developing the skills required to deliver innovative yet commercially viable solutions.
For my university placement year, I undertook a six-month placement with Gtech, a company whose ethos is to strive for pragmatic design solutions for their products. I worked as a product engineer, contributing to live design and engineering projects. My time at Gtech provided me with invaluable exposure to industry activities and the multidisciplinary nature of the design.