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Product design student invited to Prague to collect award

15 May 2019

 

Product Design student David Donaghue was invited to Prague after winning an award in an international competition for design students worldwide.

David Donaghue, pictured third from right, at the award ceremony in Prague.
David Donaghue, pictured third from right, at the award ceremony in Prague.

Teesside University mature student David was recognised for his OptiFlow design in the WorldStar Student Awards competition, run by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO).

David was invited to a gala ceremony in Prague to collect his packaging design award, rubbing shoulders with award winning packaging designers from China, Turkey, Japan and America.

The WorldStar Student Awards, held as part of WPO's Worldstar Packaging Awards 2019, aim to encourage students to showcase their design talent and encourage innovative and new thinking in the field of packaging.

The competition was open to students involved in packaging projects which had previously won an award. David won Gold award last year in the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Student Starpack Awards for his OptiFlow design.

Final year BSc (Hons) Product Design student David, 46, said: 'Coming up with the concept of OptiFlow was in response to a national competition during my second year on the course, which had the brief to design a dispensing pack which controlled the flow rate and eliminated messy glugging.'

His OptiFlow motor oil dispensing pack delivers glug-free pouring direct to an engine. The level window and flow regulator lever provide controlled and accurate filling. The hands-free resting feet eliminate back strain, while the packaging considers the environment as the flow value is made from recycled materials.

David said: 'To solve the two main two main points of the brief, to control flow rate and eliminate glugging, I researched existing solutions for both flow control and anti-glug devices already available.'

He also incorporated additional features into his design, to enable hands-free filling and to introduce a level window strip in the dispenser pack, to help the user easily see how much has been dispensed.

David, who was born in South Africa where he lived until the age of 15, moved to his family’s home town of Middlesbrough in his teens. He went on to live in various parts of England and Wales, before settling back in Middlesbrough in 2015 following a mountain biking accident which left him with a broken collarbone and shoulder blade.

Taking stock while recovering, he decided to return to education. Following graduation he is considering further study or establishing a business.


 
 
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