Student work and experiences - Industrial Design
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Michael Ng
Observing a friend struggle with forearm crutches after sustaining an
ankle injury was the motivation for Michael Ng to develop award-winning
functional walking aids for his major final year project in UniSA's
Bachelor of Industrial Design
degree program.
Ng was named the Gold Winner of the
Australian International Design Awards - Dyson Student Award as the
highest national achiever in the competition for 2008 for a compact crutch
designed to improve comfort and reduce the detrimental health effects
associated with long-term use.
'I enjoy designing functional products as I generally find them more
challenging but I also love how design can be used to positively influence
people's lives. This project was a great opportunity
to tackle a real-life problem that could potentially benefit a huge number
of people,' Ng said.
'Traditional forearm crutches are rigid, unnatural and uncomfortable. As
they strike the ground, harmful shock and vibration are transmitted through
the frame and absorbed by the body of the user, causing repetitive jarring,
which results in soreness and numbing of hands and wrists, elbow and
shoulder joint pain, wrist tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome,' Ng said.
Current crutch designs aid walking by increasing stability, enlarging the
support base and reducing the weight on the lower limbs, but do not take
into account human factors associated with their use. Ng identified the main
ergonomic, functional and usability issues with current designs, as
expressed by their users, and proposed effective solutions to overcome them.
'I addressed the shock absorption problem by designing a crutch tip
compressor that isolates the frame from the ground, enabling rubber crutch
tips to absorb the impact. Inspired by prosthetics limbs, my design allows
the crutch tips to roll and behave like ankle joints, accommodating uneven
ground and increasing the contact area to maximise grip and stability, and
absorb impact without bottoming out. Large angled handgrips provide a more
natural wrist angle that promotes a wider grip and distributes the load over
a greater area of the palms, improving blood circulation and reducing
pressure on the carpal tunnel,' Ng said.
The ability to collapse the crutches into a compact size for transport or
when seated makes them more manageable to live with.
Lecturer at UniSA's
School of Art, Architecture and Design,
Sandy Walker said that Ng's design was a stand-out project, despite the
extra challenges of having to juggle his study commitments with family life.
'Even though Ng hadn't finished his degree, the quality of his work spoke
for itself. Hills Industries identified him as someone they wanted in their
team,' Walker said.
'Ng's award brings UniSA's tally of industrial design awards to one gold,
two silver and one bronze in the six years since the national competition
began, which is quite a coup for the quality of UniSA's industrial design
program and the high calibre of its students,' he said.
Ng, who aims to finish his university studies this year
[2008], describes his
degree as 'a well-rounded program that represents four years of extremely
hard work and lots of sacrifices, but also acceptance into the design
community from my more mature and experienced peers, which means a great
deal to me.'
Now an industrial designer in the Home, Hardware and Eco Products Division
for Hills Industries, Ng is assisting
with the design, detailing and documentation of products, mostly clotheslines and play gyms.
'At this stage in my career everything is new and
challenging and I want to get a good overall grasp of the industry with the
aim of becoming a well-rounded designer. I like to be constantly challenged
and enjoy the creative experience that is unique to industrial design.'
Ng's award includes a trophy, $10,000 trip to the United Kingdom to compete
in the James Dyson Award plus $4000, courtesy of Dyson Appliances
(Australia), a Dyson vacuum cleaner, inclusion in the ADA exhibition,
acknowledgement at the Australian International Design Awards, career
assistance, industry exposure and referrals, and media coverage.
Media release 11 June 2008