IFAI announces winners of Safety Products Design Challenge

31 Oct '08

4 min read

The Safety & Protective Products Division (S&PPD) of the Industrial Fabrics Association International is pleased to announce the winners of the 2008 Safety Products Student Design Challenge.

The top three winning teams attended IFAI Expo 2008 in Charlotte, NC, Oct. 21-23, and presented their projects during the S&PPD Annual Meeting. The projects were also displayed in The Design Exhibition, a museum-style showcase of innovative textile solutions for safety and health that was open to IFAI Expo's over 8,000 registered participants during the three-day trade show.

The Safety Products Student Design Challenge is an annual event which encourages college and university students of design, textiles, engineering and allied curricula to solve safety problems using high-performance textiles in functional designs. In 2008, the Challenge required students to address common workplace situations which cause injury or death.

1st place: Moisture Management Protective Shell
Designers: Danna Sadetsky, Edana Conlon and Maureen Kelly
Instructor: You-Lo Hsieh, PhD, Chair, Division of Textiles and Clothing College: UCLA-Davis

Project Overview:
"Because the goal of the 2008 Safety Products Student Design Challenge was to offer solutions for workplace injuries, our team investigated the performance of wearers of concealable bullet proof vests.

Because current ballistic vests are heavy and hot, wearers may suffer fatigue, lower reaction time, and worse, if they overheat. By providing a garment that reduces moisture collection and heat build-up on the skin, these issues are alleviated.

"Through surveys and interviews conducted with the Oakland, CA police and the UC Davis campus police, and by researching current vest construction, we were able to pinpoint what is needed in the market. Our study led us to design a shell, or undershirt, with excellent wicking abilities and improved breathability.

"Ballistic protection on the market now has highly porous sewn-in interlinings with hydrophobic inner surfaces. Our design maximizes the location of highly efficient moisture managing fabrics in a separate washable shell, rather than the sewn-in interlining seen on current products. This design uses Nano-Tex moisture managing fabrics. The garment was sized to fit standard ballistic protection from BAE Systems."

2nd Place: Kids Camouflage Safety Hunting Suit
Designer: Stacey Wenzel
Instructor: Karen LaBat, PhD - Design, Housing, Apparel
College: University of Minnesota

Project Overview:
"This one-piece snow suit was designed to protect a child from extreme cold, especially when deer hunting, where a hunter may sit outdoors for hours. The garment is water resistant to protect from hypothermia, as well as highly insulative. The one-piece design aids in wind resistance as well.

"By law, at least 50% of a deer hunter's outer garment must be blaze orange, hence the upper body and hood color. In addition, this garment does not include any exterior pockets, which could catch on branches and cause a fall or firearm discharge. None of the current market products for children incorporate all of these features on one garment."

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