Carlos Armando DominguezIndustrial Design sections 3, 4, and thesis

Leon Paul London

Fencing equipment by

ID3: Olympic sports

The goal was to bring the sport of fencing into a new era by appealing to a fresh demographic without alienating or dismissing the fans and athletes who came before. Understanding the history of this sport would be crucial for this project.

Prototyping

Prototyping became the most significant method of attaining my goal of a functional design, this guard needed to work. Quickly I put down my pen and picked up clay to help in the actualization of the saber.

The seven facets that make up the guard act as a deflection mechanism which protects the fencers hand and wrist. The guard also redirects the opponents attacks away from the fencers valid hit areas.

Functional

Leon Paul London

Fencing equipment by

Take pride in who you are.In what you do.

SEED ProjectSpice grinder for kids

ID4: Food design

The intention was to introduce kids to cooking. Studies show that children who are more involved in the cooking process from an earlier age are more likely to develop healthier eating habits and carry those healthier habits into their adolescence.

Form ModelsUser Research

Children prefer larger objects versus smaller ones. This has to do with the fact that their hand dexterity is still developing. Bigger things are easier to hold.

15x Magnify Insert

15x Magnify Insert

Chalkboard Paint

Burr Grinder

Rotate clockwise to adjust grinder: fine, medium, or coarse Rotate counterclockwise to grind

SEED ProjectSpice grinder for kids

An introduction to food through play.

MAGNA“Tread lightly”

Senior Thesis

Fall Semester:Research

The Bark Beetle Epidemic

Over the past decade bark beetles have killed more than 70,000 square miles worth of trees, equivalent to the area of Washington State.

“Scientists are predicting that more than 80% of all pine forests in British Columbia and Alberta will be killed by the end of the year” -Michael D. Lemonick

The Mountain Pine Beetle

Native to North America

4mm tall (about the sizeof a grain of rice)

1 year life cycle

Uses pheromones to communicate

Depending on the diameter of the tree it can take between 600-2000 beetles to colonize one pine tree

How Beetles kill trees

1. Stressed pine trees release a terpene compound that the female beetles are able to detect.

2. Once the females burrow through the outer bark they emit a aggregation pheromone which signals the males to come mate and feed.

3. Their feeding acts as a internal tourniquet cutting off the flow of nutrients from the tree resulting in its death.

Pedersen Glacier, Alaska. Summer 1917

Pedersen Glacier, Alaska. Summer 2005

Climate change in the beetles favor

Larva use to freeze during the winter months, but now the MILD WINTERS have allowed them to survive .

EARLY SPRINGS has lengthened the pine beetles feeding months.

The frequency of DROUGHTS in the Western hemisphere has weakened the trees leaving; them vulnerable to infestation.

Increase of Wildfires

In a healthy ecosystem pine beetles only attack weak trees, acting as a natural checks and balance to the forest. But with increased numbers they are starting to feed on healthy trees leaving behind dead dry trees perfect for catching fire.

“Prior to European settlement, northern Arizona’s Ponderosa pine stands had 20 to 40 trees per acre. Today, many areas of northern Arizona now have 800 to 1,200 trees per acre.” -Tom DeGomez

Methods for controlling the infestation

FALL AND BURN: cutting and burning beetle-infested trees to prevent the spread of beetle populations to other areas (normally done in the winter)

Pheromone baiting: is luring beetles into trees ‘baited’ with a synthetic hormone that mimics the scent of a female beetle. Beetles can then be contained in a single area, where they can more easily be destroyed.

NPS financial problems

The National Park Service will be hiring 1,000 fewer employees next summer furthering their difficulty preparing for the wildfire season.

“There’s no doubt that the rush to cut federal spending has hurt our ability to boost funding for the Black Hills beetle problem at a time when it’s badly needed.” -Sen. Tim Johnson D-S.D.

Current method of tagging trees

Entomologists painstakingly tag one tree every 40-50 feet with a nail and hammer; affecting the distance they can cover in a day.

Since they are using chip pheromones which come in plastic bags, entomologists must return in the spring months to pick up their trash. Thats what the pink ribbon is for, its easy to locate.

Fall Semester:Production

Ideation

During the ideation phase the focus was on how to make the repetitive process of tagging trees more effortless. Making the deployment of each pod no more than 3 steps.

Appropriate disbursement of the pheromone was a huge factor to take into consideration, whether it be in a liquid, gel, or solid state.

Methods for dispensing

Testing existing artifacts that deal with repetitive dispensing and seeing how these methods could be incorporated into a system that works for entomologists out in the wilderness.

Working with paper folding techniques that could be setup in one swing of the wrist. Also starting to think of the idea of a fully biodegradable tag.

Tag form exploration

Testing how the user would be holding the tag and what kind of information would be important to have visible if anyone would happen to come across it.

The brown cardboard in these prototypes is taking the place of the artificial anti-aggregate pheromone.

Incorporating existing tools

There are already a ton of great tools that can assist in completing a task. In this case the staple hammer was the perfect tool for entomologist and their great endeavor.

Staple hammers are usually used by roofers and carpet installers. The tool is known for its reliability and one step use.

Finalizing form

Embedding the pheromone within the perforation pattern of the tag makes it thinner. Allowing the researcher to carry more during each expedition.

The perforation pattern allows the evaporation rate of the pheromone to be slower, in effect expanding the tags lifespan.

Tag Dispenser

A full dispenser can hold 120 tags, enough to cover one linear mile.

A spring loaded design feeds the tags up. Pressing the button releases one tag.

A relatively cheap hard plastic material that is meant to take the abuse of the wilderness.

Modelmaking

Making artifacts that feel appropriate for the environment in which they are meant to live in is crucial for any design circumstance. Good models are important in bridging the gap from concept to design.

As a designer I make things for this world, not for the computer screen.

Casting

Each tag is suppose to hold 10 grams of the pheromone, enough to cover an area of 50 feet.

Adding the compound carrageenan to the liquid pheromone turns it into a gel. Air fresheners main ingredients are carrageenan and whatever fragrant is desired. So the tag would work in a similar manner, evaporating slowly over time.

Big idea, Small footprint

The dispenser lives in the water bottle pocket for easy access by the entomologists tasked with tagging the trees.

The pheromone tag is designed to be 100% biodegradable because the pheromone evaporates and the paperpulp breaks down over time. The staple is a small amount of steel that will rust and does not affect the tree.

Division of labor

The entomologist carrying the dispenser is tasked with pinning the location of the tags on his remote GPS locater and determining the distance between each tag.

The entomologist carrying the staple hammer is in charge of determining whether the tree is suitable for tagging and placing the tag securely at an appropriate height above the snow line.

MAGNA“Tread lightly”

Thank you