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Made in Brunel award-winner rounds off a first-class summer with New Designers prize

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Made in Brunel award-winner rounds off a first-class summer with New Designers prize

July 31st, 2011

Made in Brunel award-winner Buster Palmano, who graduated with first class honours in Product Design Engineering in July, has won the New Designers InterContinental Hotels Group Award for his innovative ceiling fan design.

The Wing Fan, an efficient and affordable ceiling fan designed to increase airflow and reduce noise, best satisfied the award’s criteria to design an intrinsically innovative and environmental solution that makes life better for the user.

The judges said: “Buster resolved many common issues with existing fans to create a really innovative solution that has many environmental benefits whilst delivering a vastly improved consumer experience.”

The prize involves a two week work placement at Intercontinental Hotels Group, plus a weekend break in the Hotel InterContinental, Park Lane.

Buster explained: “Research shows that ceiling fans are unpopular due to their unattractive aesthetic and the fact that they are very noisy to use. The wing fan uses biomimetics (the study and application of natural mechanisms to the design of products) and airflow simulation to maximise airflow while minimising noise, creating a fan that moves silently and slowly while moving more air then traditional flat blades.

“Winning the New Designers award was a great feeling. The final year project at Brunel is unlike any other design project as it represents the culmination of four years of study, so being rewarded for my efforts is amazing.”

New Designers is a graduate design event which brings together over 3,500 graduates from across a range of disciplines, and aims to create a showcase for the next generation of design leaders.

At Made in Brunel, Buster won the O2 Telefonica Electric Vehicle Design Challenge for a new battery and application concept.