Seniors in the Wilson College of Textiles’ textile engineering (TE) and textile technology (TT) programs began the first week of the semester in their Senior Design capstone course completing the annual design competition project, the Rice Bag Challenge. 

The Process

Throughout the week, students were tasked to collaborate on a team to create a sustainable product. With a budget of $10 and two rice bags, each team was required to research, brainstorm and design a prototype to assist people living in developing countries. 

The students partnered with Rise Against Hunger, an international non-profit that coordinates the packaging and distribution of food and aid to developing nations. The challenge is meant to limit the amount of unused, empty packaging and instead turn waste products into meaningful solutions. 

This challenge is the introduction to how the course will be structured over the next year. Through the semesters, each team will be supplied a yearlong, industry-sponsored project. 

Students learn how to work as a team right away during the challenge and begin to realize their collaboration and creative strategies with each other. 

“They start to learn each other’s styles a little bit earlier. If you’re just doing a homework group assignment, it feels a little bit different from this type of activity. They can take that and really start to build their team a bit earlier,” said Philip Bradford, professor and co-director of Senior Design.

Bradford said that although it is exciting to see what new products the students will create each year, there usually is no one right answer.

“There are always multiple approaches and many ways to have a successful outcome. We love the creative ideas that the students come up with and we encourage them to keep thinking outside the box for their project for the year,” said Bradford. 

The concept of sustainable and accessible products allowed for groups to create everything from umbrellas and arm slings, to portable sinks and garden aprons. The students were scored by a panel of judges on how effectively their team worked together, creativity on the product itself and the practical viability of the product being an affordable, long-lasting solution. 

Amanda Mills, assistant professor and co-director of Senior Design, said being thrown into the creative process right away creates a “risk free” environment for the students.

“Okay quick, you’ve got one thing to do, and do it in a week, ready to present. They really have to learn how to work together as a team right off the bat,” said Mills. 

After the judges had a chance to view each group presentation, three products were awarded first, second and third place. 

The Top Three

In third place came a water collection funnel that could be tied to trees or buildings to collect rainwater. The students said it was created to filter out large pieces of debris and allow for water collection without the confines of finding a direct source. 

Second place was awarded to a group who created a Vietnamese style Non La hat for outdoor workers. Designed to protect from water and UV rays, this product could minimize labor costs and optimize material usage, according to the student designers. The students said the next steps in improving the product even further would be to add a mosquito netting around the face for additional protection. 

Coming in first place was a flotation device created for children ages one to four. In this design, water bottles were inserted in the front and back to assist in allowing the vest and the child to stay afloat in a body of water. A strap was fastened around the bottom to ensure that the vest would not slip off the child once in the water. 

Each group’s collective creative process allowed for the focus on the products to range from being environmentally safe and sustainable to economically conscious and educationally effective. 

While this was just the beginning of the Senior Design class for this cohort, the Rice Bag Challenge has inspired several alumni of the program to continue creating work that leaves an impact.

“Graduates of our program do often have real life projects that include sustainability and/or have societal impact, and this fun activity shows that we are training our students to provide creative solutions to those types of problems out in the real world,” said Bradford.