Phillip Savignac shows a collapsible shopping cart from last year.
photo by mike nasmith

The second annual industrial design competition at Humber offers students real world experience, portfolio building projects and a potential payday.
Up to $8000 prize money is up for grabs at the competition sponsored by Bayer, a company that deals with health care, nutrition, and high-tech material development.
“It’s a great experience as a competition,” said Philippe Savignac, a third-year industrial design student.  “You get to see what the industries are looking for.  It was a great learning experience, that’s for sure.  I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
Savignac was leader for last year’s team, whose collapsible shopping cart design earned third place.
This year’s contest requires fourth-year design students to develop products to improve the interiors of light rail transportation, said Glenn Moffatt, co-ordinator of the competition and instructor in the industrial design program.
Students must make their designs using Bayer’s proprietary polycarbonate plastic, Makrolon, a material used in some aircraft canopies.
It’s the second year Bayer has held a competition, said Moffatt, noting that the organizers were so impressed with the results from last year, when the goal was to produce products to aid senior citizens, that they are holding two competitions this year.
Having to deal with different aspects of the production process also allows students to attempt tasks they may not get to try in the classroom, Moffatt said.
“It’s good because you don’t just do the design,” said Casey Matthews,  also a third-year industrial design student and a fellow team member of Savignac in last year’s competition.  “You have to do the presentation, have the model, and do the market research.”
Beyond the learning experience, the competition can also provide more immediate benefits, as the companies participating donate prize money or products, said Moffat. Roughly 70 per cent of the prize money goes to the students while the rest goes to the school.
Another perk of the competition is  it allows students to bolster their portfolios, which can be vital in landing jobs, said Moffatt.
Moffatt mentioned a graduate of the program who was in Australia and applied for a job with a company asking for someone with three to four years experience.  The student admitted she did not have it, she merely wanted to get experience with the interview process. Still,   halfway through the interview she was hired.
“They said, ‘Well you’ve got more experience than somebody who’s been working three years because of the contact you’ve had with companies and real life experiences.’”