Glasgow students win design award

Five groups of product design engineering students from the Glasgow School of Arts have won a national competition, created and sponsored by Chubb Fire & Security, to design a new personal alarm to support the independent living of the elderly and vulnerable in society.

The winning teams will share a £2,500 cash prize, and had their designs publicly presented at Municipal Buildings in Forres, Moray.

For the challenge, students were divided into groups and tasked with designing a pendant, worn around the neck or wrist, enabling the wearer to generate an alarm if they are in distress. The students took a user-lead approach by working with the current users of the technology throughout the nearby community of Moray, their carers, and other professionals to get input on the design and functionality of the pendant.

David Hammond, general manager of Chubb’s Community Care business, says the quality of entries from all groups of students was outstanding: “Prior to this competition, many of the students were unaware that such technology existed, but by building relationships with the community of Moray along with the professionals prescribing these pendants, the results have been outstanding,” he says. “They have designed some fantastic products based around what the users wearing the pendant actually want and feel would be beneficial to others. The support and enthusiasm of the community of Moray during this project has been amazing.”