Inventive product prototypes were on display on 6th June from our Manufacturing Engineering Tripos undergraduates, for the Design Show 2018.

This is a major examinable component of the 3rd year course, for which students develop a new product with real business potential.

They are asked to identify a customer need, research the market, develop original design concepts and create a full business plan. In previous years, a number of prototypes have gone into commercial production and won national prizes.

This year's projects include:

Autobatik – an automation solution for the time and labour intensive Batik printing process, allowing for creative designs at sustainable production rates for the Indonesian market. (By Imogen Connor-Helleur, Rob Glew and James Wood)

The Bluebox Skipper – a tabletop unit which transforms polystyrene into a dense, reusable product, with the aim of minimising plastic waste in coastal communities. (By Toby Lane, Chiara Sexton and Alice Wong)

Hexamill – a six-axis desktop milling machine combining the versatility of a 3D printer with the manufacturing quality of a CNC mill, to bring prototyping in-house. (By Katherine Cook, Bert Dompeling and Matt Escott)

Hyperbot Pro – an autonomous buddy designed to capture hyperlapse footage, with an interface that can be integrated with a smartphone application for effective videographic creations. (By Tom Wilson, Miran Gilmore and Josh Thomson)

Garbage Guardian – a trolley with a rotating belt which collects litter from rough terrain, increasing the rate of collection and reducing time and cost of labour compared with manual litter picking. (By Hanesh Patel, Jordan Thornton and Kate Read)

Leaflogger – extruding solid logs from dry leaves that can then be used as environmentally-conscious alternative to standard wood logs in fireplaces or barbecues. (By Skye Fletcher, Aleksander Mardinian, Shirley Ngan and Nick Reyner)

The Muracle – an automated mural-painting robot, which can paint any image directly onto interior walls using a rope-suspended airbrush. (By Harris Ryder, Dami Adebayo and Theo Heymann)

Paper Mill Thrill – a STEM outreach project for Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils, the table top paper mill is the centerpiece of an interactive workshop on engineering, science and sustainability. (By Fraser McKay, Anna Quincey and Valentina Sassow)

ReadySteadyGyro – a wearable device to counteract hand tremors, using gyroscopic effects to improve stability and control for the user. (By Ben Weir, Callum McCarthy and Hugo Gale)

Soap for Life – cheap and sustainable access to soap for rural communities facing hygiene issues, creating anti-bacterial soap from by-product ash and cooking oil. (By Josh Shemtob, George Barbantan and Phil Knott)

Read more about the Design Show projects as part of the MET curriculum...