Neal HendricksIndustrial Designer

About me

As a child I was always interested in inventing new things, making toys out of objects that I would find around the house. I grew up in a family of four boys and although we would play sports and games, I was always driven to create new toys and devices from things I would find. As I have grown, I have brought this drive into my life as a designer here at Virginia Tech. I am a passionate runner and hockey player and strive to bring that energy and passion into my design. I am currently seeking an internship position where I can continue to grow and push myself as a designer.

Mobile Workstation 10 WeeksDesign and build a dual function mobile workstation.

How do students work when a desk is not available? What if there was a way for students to have a desk with them wherever they go?

A market gap was found in existing products on the market. There’s a lack of products that are portable as well as functional to serve as a desk.

Portable

Fun

ctio

nal

TargetTarget

Market Opportunity

The final concept has a hard shell attached to the outside layer of the backpack. College students are constantly on the go, they need a hard surface to read, write, or study on when a desk is not available. Having this hard shell allows them to take the backpack off and work anywhere they wish.

Concept Development

S shaped ergonomic straps

Easily accessible side pocket

Hard shell of acrylic to serve as work surface

Laptop Pouch

Book compartment

Easily detachable straps for comfortable work space on lap

Feature Call-Out

Wear WorkSit

Story Board

Bandsawing the wooden structure

Planing the wooden structure Vacuumforming the acrylic sheet

Spray painting the acrylic sheet

Drilling holes in acyclic sheet for rivets

Constructing the pattern Sewing the pattern together

Pattern flipped inside out Riveting acrylic sheet to pattern

Shop Work

Housewares Design Competition10 weeks

How do you make taking vitamins a fun activity for kids?

Sewing the pattern together

Of children do not eat the appropriate amount of servings daily from each food group.

Only 3 of every 10 boys and 1 of every 10 girls are getting the proper amount of calcium during a crucial time of growth.

I want to give the children control and help them learn healthy eating habits as a child so that they can bring this with them into their future. I want them to ask their parents for the vitamins rather than having the parents forget to give them to them. *Research from online survey conducted with over 25 parents

Of parents responded that they have forgotten to give their children vitamins

Market Research

80%

98%

The final concept uses a scroll wheel for them to spin to receive a fact about vitamins. The dispenser involves a timer which will only dispense 1 vitamin per day to prevent overdose by the child.

Concept Development

Scroll wheel for display

Feature Call-Out

Scroll wheel for display

Display Screen

Rubber lip

Button to dispense vitamin

Medium gloss plastic housing Tray for vitamin

2. Spin wheel with finger to receive fun fact from display

3. After hearing fun fact, press button to pop tray with vitamin out

4. Take vitamin from tray and close tray

1. Walk up to dispenser on kitchen counter

Story Board

Scroll wheel for display

Display Screen

Rubber lip

Button to dispense vitamin

Medium gloss plastic housing Tray for vitamin

Vitamin C

Vitamin A

Vitamin D

Vitamin B

Spin Wheel!

Vitamin A

Helps keep bones healthy and is important for good vision (eye sight) at night

Where else to find Vitamin A?

Interface

Once the wheel is spun and it lands on a vitamin, the child touches the vitamin tab and the next screen pops up with a fun fact about that vitamin. Pressing the top of the screen will offer other choices on food containing that vitamin.

How to improve reaction time and the ergonomics of the stopwatch?

Handheld Device1 MonthSketch intensive project to redesign an existing electronic handheld device

Most stopwatches do not fit the entire hand and can be uncomfortable to hold when in use, which can cause errors when timing races. Some stopwatches can also be very confusing to operate with the amount of buttons and controls on them.

Objective: To design a more simple and ergonomic stopwatch to improve reaction time

Problem

Focused on designs that give the thumb the start/stop function because the thumb has a faster reaction time than index finger. Wanted to have only three function buttons to maintain simplicity.

Concept Development

Mode/ Reset Button

Display Screen

Start/ Stop Button

Screws

Rubber Grip

Plastic Housing

Logo

Feature Call-Out

Toothbrush1 weekSketch intensive and modeling project of a simple hygiene product

How do you make brushing teeth a fun activity for kids to do everyday?

Include vibrant colors and images on the brush to make brushing more fun. The images are usually cartoon characters or superheroes. The shape of the head will be smaller and rounder than compared to an adults brush.

Standard Children’s Toothbrush

Electric ToothbrushChildren’s electric toothbrushes will have fun, enjoyable images to represent the handle of the brush. This makes the process of brushing very fun. These brushes will be very colorful and easy to use, having only one button. The shape of electric brushes are very similar, most have a thick handle and then narrow head.

Market Research

Concept Development

The concept on the right is the one I decided to move forward with. This concept involves a telescoping idea where the user will press a button to pop out the other layer of the brush. I found this to be a very interesting and playful idea to use while brushing one's teeth.

Concept Development

Pressing button in pops replaceable blade out. Replaceable blade allows for brush handle to be used for multiple years.

When the finger grip on the bottom handle is pushed in, it allows the second layer to shoot out, similar to the way a telescope does.

Feature Call-Out

5 1/2 in

Side View

1.25 in

Top View

Technical Drawing

2. Hold button and shake brush to pop second layer out

4. Hold button down and press head in to reduce size

3. Brush Teeth1. Grab Toothbrush

5. Put Away

Story Board

Thanks for looking!nhendric@vt.edu I 703-966-2948