Graduating Humber College’s Bachelor of Industrial Design students showcased the best of their work recently in the program’s annual thesis show. 

The projects included an enhanced sleeper semi-truck, a physical and mental health-enhancing smart chair and a reimagined tattoo workstation, all created at home due to campus restrictions. 

“This year, our graduating students prevailed over the challenges and successfully completed their thesis capstone projects,” said professor Catherine Chong. 

“Ultimately, they re-imagined new ways of working. Innovation came from thinking inside a literal “box”. 

The thesis projects had to encompass four pillars of human-centric design approach and demonstrate understanding of the complex interaction between the user, the product and the environment. 

Taking off 

Two Bachelor of Industrial Design students are topping off their final year at Humber with big wins. 

Every year, the Association of Chartered Industrial Designers of Ontario (ACIDO) hosts “Rocket,” design competition for Ontario’s graduating industrial designers. 

Participants are nominated from Carleton University, Humber College, OCAD University and Sheridan College. Then, they pitch their thesis projects to a panel of industry professionals. 

This year, Humber student Henry Boy’s project, Vagabond, took home first place. His classmate, Bradley Staite, came in second for his project, Neo Ink. 

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the Rocket competition, which Bachelor of Industrial Design professor Sandro Zaccolo says creates “tremendous energy and enthusiasm” with students. 

“It’s exciting to have ACIDO enable the sharing of this with other schools, design professionals and new young audiences to explore careers within design,” he said. 

Humber designers also won several specialty awards, which are sponsored by industry leaders to recognize students whose projects align with their core company values. 

You can see the full list of winners here.