Index
RMIT Green Inventors Event
ABC’s Bernie Hobbs hosted the Green Inventors Event and RMIT’s Professor Alan Pears was one of the panelists who probed the award-winning secrets of student ‘greenovators’: inventors who break the rules to shape a sustainable future.
Sustainability is a key factor in successful and effective design. On Saturday, 18 February at the Sustainable Living Festival, RMIT University presented the “greenovations” of three Industrial Design students who developed environmentally sustainable designs that demonstrated both ingenuity and originality.
This clever trio of students introduced and demonstrated their inventions, one of which was named the winner.
Competitors
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Michael Gray Michael Gray has developed the “super-light” “HSV R2”, a two-occupant car that has been designed as a second vehicle for sustainable leisure that is powered by electricity. |
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**WINNER** Dale Hardiman Dale Hardiman’s invention: a children's stool made from completely biodegradable material that literally sprouts and grows at the end of its life is the winner of the SLF Green Inventors event. The award-winning stool is made from wheat starch, water, vinegar, glycerol, pea straw and grass seeds. |
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Ryan O’Donnell Ryan O’Donnell has developed “Google Transit”, a public transport vehicle that features an automated driver with intelligent collision avoidance and is powered by battery and drivetrain technology. |
Event host and panelists
The RMIT Green Inventors Event was be hosted by Bernie Hobbs, ABC Science Broadcaster and three panelists judged the event.
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Adjunct Professor Alan Pears AM Alan Pears has worked in the sustainable energy and environment fields since the 1970s. He has worked across household, commercial, industrial and transport sectors. His roles have included policy and strategic analysis, program development and implementation, public education and training, and specific projects including advising on green buildings and design of green appliances. Alan teaches part-time at RMIT University, is Associate Director of RMIT’s Centre for Design, and is a Director of consulting firm Sustainable Solutions Pty Ltd. He is involved in a number of Advisory Boards, including EcoBuy, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Association, the Victorian Government’s Plumbing Industry Advisory Council, and Swinburne National Centre for Sustainability. |
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Jen McBride Jen McBride is an RMIT Bachelor of Design (Industrial Design) Honours graduate and inventor of the Secure Cycle, a slash-proof, water-proof bicycle cover, which is resistant to vandalism, theft and the weather and promotes environmentally friendly commuter transport as it negates the need for insecure, impractical bicycle and accessory storage. Jen has received numerous awards for her Secure Cycle, which appeared on the New Inventors in 2010 and won the People’s Choice Award. As with this project, many of Jen’s designs are focused on sustainability and their environmental impact. Jen is currently finishing a Master of Teaching at Melbourne University. |
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Stephen Mushin
Stephen Mushin is a Melbourne-based ecological designer. Driven by a fascination for ecology, Stephen works on design and visual art projects that aim to provoke, inspire, describe and create zero emission sustainable futures as well as beautiful, adventurous and dangerously fun landscapes and living machines. Stephen’s design work spans urban agriculture, sustainability visioning, creative play landscapes and puppetry. |