The origins of topology optimization, date back to the late 1980s. That’s when the idea of leveraging computing power to speed the development of structures that are optimized for characteristics such as mass and stiffness first emerged.
One of the key benefits of topology optimization is its ability to cut excess weight out of a design.
However one of the biggest challenges is that the fabricability of the forms produced (see second image) often relies on advanced and expensive metal 3d printing.
With this project I wanted to explore it’s abilities on the much more accessible tube laser process on steel tubes.
The 30:60:90 stool was designed Parametrically in Grasshopper3d
and fabricated at OtherLab in San Francisco.
Project developed with a team at OtherLab in San Francisco.
The current Covid19 pandemic is a global challenge with exponential outbreaks that are overwhelming healthcare infrastructure.
Patient segmentation, housing, and containment on the frontline is often ad-hoc.
OtherLab has developed a solution that can be manufactured and deployed immediately.
The unit consists of a polymer film tent deployed inside of an existing hospital room, converting a standard bed into a stand-alone isolation unit with negative pressure. The tent includes glove walls and pass-throughs for ventilation tubes, food, waste, and telemetry cables. It also includes a “hug wall” for physically moving or assisting a patient, as well as donning and doffing rooms for safe access through disinfection protocols.
Similar isolation units cost tens of thousands of dollars and are not rapidly deployable.
Our approach is a medically vetted, deployable, disposable and mass manufacturable product that is a critically enabling technology for the current COVID-19 threat.
Where existing solutions tend to rely on hazmat suits—suits with a high potential for user error and thus infection—the Care Cube inverts the whole model. Focusing on containing the patient allows for the vast majority of caregiver interactions to happen safely from outside. The “hug wall” isn’t just for giving hugs, it gives medical personnel protected access to the patient and the entire interior of the cube, making simple medical procedures like checking vitals possible without the need for suit changes. An air lock system with two-stage zippered entrances allow food and other items to be safely passed into the Cube, as well as waste to be safely passed out. A fan circulates fresh air, while a HEPA filter removes the virus before air leaves the tent.
Learn more at carecubes.com
Bruk is a sustainable beverage carton designed to be recycled.
When we purchase a beverage carton like those commonly used for milk or juice, we place little consideration into their life after we put them in the recycling bin. Environmentally conscious consumers may think that a paper carton is more sustainable because it uses less plastic than a similar carton made from plastic and they are right to think so. However, due to their construction the common paper beverage carton is surprisingly difficult to recycle. Conventional paper milk cartons are made using paper sandwiched between two thin layers of plastic, in order to recycle them, the paper and plastic must be separated which requires a special process that is both expensive and not widely available. As a result in the USA only 16% of beverage cartons are recycled and only 49% are recycled in the EU.
Bruk is designed to eliminate these problems; when it’s time to recycle it the consumer simply tears bruk in half releasing the HDPE liner so it can be recycled separately from the cardboard. This process is fast simple and fun. We designed bruk to be intuitive and inclusive, easy for everyone regardless of physical ability. Bruk is as convenient and easy to use as a conventional carton, but uses less plastic than a plastic carton and is 100% recyclable with conventional equipment unlike paper cartons.
Made for Dezeen x Samsung
Horn shapes were widely used by the ancient Greeks. They designed circular arenas which opened like funnels where if performers whispered on stage, their voices could be clearly heard from the uppermost seats. This is because of the unique characteristics of the acoustic horn which maximizes the efficiency with which sound waves are transferred to air from their source.
When the first gramophone was invented in 1898, its horn amplified the minute mechanical oscillations of a pin running along a disc to produce sounds that could be heard by the human ear.
My proposal matches this history with modern technology. Using a single sheet of cardboard, I created an amplifier that turns sounds from a smartphone into music that can fill an entire room.
Instructions:
Score the cardboard and cut the pieces.
Scoring the cardboard allows it to bend seamlessly.
Assemble the horn by inserting the interlocking dovetail joints into each other.
Assemble the phone dock and slide it onto the horn.
The horn is now complete, insert your phone and enjoy amplified music.
An estimated 4,000 children die each day from water related diseases, the primary cause being contaminated drinking water. Almost a billion people collect water from open water bodies. These sources are extremely prone to both microbiological and chemical pollution, like cholera, pesticide and industrial pollutants.
Our innovation is a scalable, low tech, activated charcoal producing unit that runs on solar energy. The unit delivers high grade activated charcoal which can be readily incorporated into a slow sand or similar filter to greatly enhance water purification standards.
Our idea stands apart from other clean drinking water solutions because we use existing natural water sources as opposed to drilling for water underground and further tapping strained groundwater resources. Most water filtration solutions rely on single use filters which must be replaced frequently to ensure proper function. Replacing filters is not only environmentally wasteful and financially burdensome but rural communities often do not have ready access to replacements due to their location. The result is communities being forced to drink harmful water.
We address this problem by placing the power to create filters in the hands of the people who use them. Our device is capable of producing a kilogram of activated carbon daily, enough to filter up to 20,000 litres of water. Communities and individuals can be economically empowered through activated carbon and filter production. Conventionally activated carbon is produced in large unsustainable fossil fuel powered industrial furnaces. We use solar power thereby providing a sustainable alternative to polluting methods.
Jul 2014
Parametrically designed and Digitally Fabricated, this thermo-electric generator attaches onto the
exhaust pipe of a motorbike and exploits the temperature difference between the hot exhaust pipe and the heat sink that is air-cooled. It recovers the waste heat and converts it to electricity that is stored in a battery, that can later be used to charge your cell phone.
A Collaboration with Rachel Freire using Ecco shoes, modelling garments with algorithms and fabricating in nappa leather. The beginnings of a larger project focused on making full garments and exploring zero waste in sculptural pattern cutting
Rewiring America is a campaign that details the path to effectively decarbonize the US economy by 2035.
Rewiring America is co-founded Saul Griffith.
Saul is an inventor, a MacArthur genius fellow, and the founder and CEO of Otherlab, where his team was contracted by the Department of Energy to track and visualize the entirety of America’s energy flow.
I had the honor to work as the creative director and graphic designer on this project.
I created data-visualizations and other graphic elements for the campaign and the many reports it generates.
The following is a selection of diagrams that I enjoyed working on with Saul Griffith and Sam Calisch.
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Learn more about Rewiring America and see the other energy charts at rewiringamerica.org
