{"id":5027,"date":"2011-08-31T10:25:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T10:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/csulb-design-graduate-among-finalists-in-london-at-design-lab-contest\/"},"modified":"2011-08-31T10:25:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-31T10:25:00","slug":"csulb-design-graduate-among-finalists-in-london-at-design-lab-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/csulb-design-graduate-among-finalists-in-london-at-design-lab-contest","title":{"rendered":"CSULB Design Graduate Among Finalists in London at Design Lab Contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

10:39am | <\/strong>Matthew Schwartz, a Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) design graduate, has turned his senior project into an all-expense paid trip to London, where he will compete as one of eight finalists in Electrolux\u2019 Design Lab 2011 with his concept of the Onda Portable Microwave. <\/p>\n

Founded in 2002, the annual global design contest was created to find and support the emerging talents of industrial design students and recent graduates in the area of home appliances design. Each year, students from around the world submit ideas for future appliances based on a certain theme. This year\u2019s theme was \u201cintelligent mobility.\u201d <\/p>\n

Electrolux received more than 1,300 entries for this year\u2019s competition and chose 25 as semifinalists before whittling that number down to eight finalists, who will now present their designs in London on Sept. 7. <\/p>\n

Schwartz and the other seven finalists from Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Slovakia and South Korea will present their concept appliances to a jury of expert designers, who will chose the winners based on the criteria of intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight. <\/p>\n

First prize is a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design center and 5,000 euros (approximately $7,100).  Second prize is 3,000 euros (approximately $4,300) and third prize is 2,000 euros (approximately $2,850).  Additionally, Electrolux will give out a \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award\u201d at the finals.  The company is encouraging the public to go to its website and vote for its favorite design concept among this year\u2019s finalists (vote here<\/a>).  Voting goes until Sept. 7. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am nervous but very excited to present to the judges,\u201d said Schwartz, who earned his bachelor\u2019s degree at CSULB in May.  \u201cIn addition to presenting to the judges, there will be design professionals from all over Europe, general public in attendance at the event, and media, which creates a lot of pressure as well.  But I am preparing and rehearsing my presentation so that I am as familiar as possible with what I will be saying. <\/p>\n

Schwartz pointed out that Electrolux has created physical models of all of the concepts for the finalists that will be on display.  He\u2019ll also give a PowerPoint and oral presentation describing his concept. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am hoping that this will be the beginning of an exciting career,\u201d he said in anticipation of the finals.  \u201cWhether I win one of the top prizes or not, I am looking forward to meeting many people and making connections with people all over the world.  It\u2019s exciting to think of the opportunities that I have ahead of myself.\u201d <\/p>\n

Schwartz\u2019 Onda Portable Microwave is a small device used in conjunction with pre-packaged meals that transmits microwaves directly into the sealed food package to heat and cook the contained food.  The device slides onto the packaging of prepared meals.  As the seal of the packaging is broken, the handheld oven creates a circuit connection.  Paper batteries produce the energy needed to cook the food. (See a brief video on Schwartz\u2019 entry on the Electrolux website<\/a>) <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the device is attached to the dish, they seal together and the enclosed food container acts as the cooking chamber which contains all of the microwaves safely inside,\u201d he said.  \u201cPower-paper batteries produce steady and eco-friendly power for efficient cooking and allow it to be used virtually anywhere.  It is perfect for use at home, in the office, for outdoor use, and could be easily adapted for military personnel or natural disaster relief as well.\u201d <\/p>\n

Schwartz feels one reason for his recognition was his design\u2019s convenience and practicality. <\/p>\n

\u201cTraditional microwaves limit users to the confines of the kitchen, but the Onda Portable Microwave solves that problem,\u201d he said.  \u201cIt is a smart step in the evolution of a common product, which hasn\u2019t seen much change since its creation half a century ago.\u201d <\/p>\n

Competition judges praised Schwartz\u2019s design for its lateral thinking and creativity, which he believes refers to the configuration of the product. <\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of having a big box that permanently sits on the counter top, you have a product or system comprised of two separate pieces that when joined together, create a device that works in a very similar way but on a much smaller and more convenient scale,\u201d he noted.  \u201cIt is essentially taking the components of a traditional microwave and repackaging them in a whole new way.\u201d <\/p>\n

Schwartz leaves for London on Sunday, Sept. 4, with the finals presentation taking place on Wednesday, Sept. 7.  When he arrives, he said the experience will be all business with rehearsals, professional speakers and opportunities to network with other designers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Schwartz, a Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) design graduate, has turned his senior project into an all-expense paid trip to London, where he will compete as one of eight finalists in Electrolux\u2019 Design Lab 2011 with his concept of the Onda Portable Microwave. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":69950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-5027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5027"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=5027"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=5027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}