EUGENE, Ore. -- (August 27, 2009) – Jessica Richards says she doesn’t play the music video game Rock Band. But the interior design undergraduate student recently won a national competition by proposing an improved microphone for the game, a kind of expanded karaoke with players singing and playing simulated instruments along with annotated onscreen songs. Jessica earned $2,000 for her design, primarily of die-cast zinc, and the University of Oregon’s product design program netted another $1,000.
For the final project of a product design class taught by associate professor Kiersten Muenchinger, director of the program, students answered the challenge posed by Interzinc, a zinc industry marketing group, to incorporate zinc. The competition was open to any student design that used the metal in the manufacture of an electronic device. The two other winners for 2009 were a small electrical generator powered by opening doors and an electronic Braille reading system.
All of Jessica’s classmates came up with their own improvements to the retail version of the microphone, which is primarily made of glued plastic pieces. Professor Muenchinger had two of the microphones on hand, one intact and the other disassembled for analysis.
Jessica’s design, an ergonomic and contoured shape of die-cast zinc, added heft and comfort to the handheld instrument. She also consolidated the multiple function buttons and moved them near the bottom to avoid accidental pressing. “It has a bazillion buttons. I’m not sure what they’re for. But the less parts you have, the better, for manufacturing and cost,” she said. The head of her microphone was screwed on by threading it instead of adhering it with glue, in a nod to potential recyclability. “I considered how to take it apart after its life span,” she said.
As part of the competition rules, only students who scored above 70 percent on a quiz about zinc could enter. Beyond that, Jessica attributes her success to extra effort in finalizing her entry, refining her rough concept with advice from Muenchinger outside of class. Also, her logical approach was reflected in the process sketches included in her entry. “Instead of conceptual, it’s more realistic. I showed the thought process behind my conclusions,” she said.
Jessica, who also enjoys jewelry making, said she appreciated Muenchinger’s class lectures on manufacturing processes and materials such as metals, plastics and wood. For her, product design offers a more intimate take on design. “I like that I can design at various scales. It’s more tangible and detailed, almost more down to earth,” she said.
As for her award money, the undergraduate plans to apply most of it to tuition as she begins her final year this fall. Still, she said, “I wish I could say I was taking myself somewhere cool.”
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 62 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Contact: Karen Johnson, AAA communications, karenjj@uoregon.edu, 541-346-3603
Source: Kiersten Muenchinger, director, product design program, 541-346-6891, kiersten@uoregon.edu
Links:
http://general-stores.com/interzinc/Announce.htm
http://www.interzinc.org/
http://pd.uoregon.edu
Caption: Rock Band microphone design by Jessica Richards, winner of Interzinc competition.
Richards is an University of Oregon undergraduate student in the product design program.
