So You Think You Can Design
Joel at his 3D printer
National Design Competition Winner
Joel Taylor (Year 10) was successful in winning the national design competition So You Think You Can Design at the end of last year.
The popular competition is organised by the Design and Technology Teachers’ Association of Australia (DATTA Australia) and hundreds of students from all over the country submitted designs that attempted to solve a personal, local or global problem.
Joel’s Design for an urban compost system impressed the Design and Technology teachers, who attended the DATTA Vic Makerspace conference for teachers in December, with most of them voting for his fantastic design.
Joel recently received his prize, a kit 3D printer from the competition sponsor Altronics. Joel, with a little help from mum and dad, managed to assembly the printer and get it working in a few hours – an impressive accomplishment and learning experience itself!
Joel’s first successful print was a surgical mask strap for his dad Brett who works in healthcare. A fantastic application of this exciting new technology!
The mask was originally designed by a boy scout in Canada – so this is also a great example of international digital collaboration.
Well done Joel (and mum and dad)! A great example of the problem-solving skills and attitude that our teachers are continuing to develop in our students, even in the most difficult of situations!
Peter Murphy
STEM Leading Teacher
Urban Composting - Joel's winning design
