NUS DESIGNERS HOT ON THE DOT

- by Lo Tien Yen

School of Design and Environment’s Industrial Design (ID) students shone at the Red Dot Award 2005, a prestigious annual design competition organised by the German design institute, Red Dot. Mr Yong Jie Yu, who just graduated in Industrial Design, won the Luminary Prize with his amphibious Skid Scooter; while Mr Cedric Tay, Mr Lui Honfay, Mr Lin Wei Liang and Ms Agnes Xue Lishan each bagged a Red Dot Award.

HOT DOT: Mr Yong Jie Yu and his design which won the Red Dot's Luminary Award.

Competition was hot – there were 638 entries from 40 countries. The Department contributed five of the nine winning entries from Singapore. Other winning ideas include Honfay’s MP3 player operated by rotating two squares; Cedric’s digital camera which can rotate 360 degrees; Wei Liang’s bathroom with changing landscape inspired by sand dunes; and Agnes’ health monitor for women.

Two other ID students, Mr Gabriel Tan Si Jin and Ms Wendy Chua Wenni have also won the coveted Design Lab Award at the International Electrolux Design Lab 2005 Competition. They were the first Asian winners of the Award, beating 3,000 competitors from 88 countries around the world. The duo came up with a waterless washing machine called Airwash which uses negative ions, compressed air and deodorants to clean clothes. Electrolux said the design was declared winner because of “its intuitive, ecological and beautiful design”.

SUPER DUO: Mr Gabriel Tan (right) and Ms Wendy Chua (centre) won the Design Lab Award at the International Electrolux Design Lab 2005 Competition.

HOOKED ON HUNTER DOUGLAS

Three years of hard work – with an attempt each year to win the Hunter Douglas Award had honed his creativity and skills to a new peak. Mr Lui Honfay finally won the 2005 Award for the M Arch Category. The Award also went to Mr Tan Szue Hann (winner), Mr Lee Tze Ming (Merit) and Ms Kee Wei Hui (Merit) for the BA Arch/ID Category.

Mr Lui’s Urban Entertainment Centre is an entertainment hub in the city with character and identity for the young and trendy. He said: “I may not be a great talent but I firmly believe that hard work will eventually bring us good results.”

URBAN DESIGN: Mr Lui Honfay's Urban Entertainment Centre for the young and trendy.