First Hypak™ Design Themed Competition Top3 Announced, Initiating Design Innovation Transformation

Recently, after 5 months of preparation and investment, the inaugural Hypak™ Design National College Student Theme Design Competition Final kicked off at the Shanghai Institute of Innovation and Creative Design (DIIS). Expert judges from various universities, including Tongji University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai University of Science and Technology, Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, and co-hosts, voted for the top three winners after intense discussion.

Since its launch in December 2023, the Hypak™ Design theme design competition has received enthusiastic applications from more than 400 students from over 20 universities worldwide. Over 50 valid entries made it into the preliminary rounds, covering a range of fields from industrial design and product design to fashion design. After rigorous re-evaluation and expert judging, ten works successfully advanced to the finals.

The theme of this design competition was "Present," requiring contestants to design and create various types of presents using Hypak™ materials. The goal was to explore the significance and value of presents in different contexts while combining them with Hypak™ material's unique performance and texture to give presents new meaning. Hypak™ material boasts contradictory features such as being waterproof and breathable, lightweight yet strong, with a distinctive tactile feel and unique texture, offering these young designers a different kind of inspiration.

The competition emphasized not only innovation in design but also the ability to transform creativity into reality. As one of the few design competitions that can directly transform student works into marketable products, the Hypak™ Design competition required participants to consider both the artistic and practical aspects of their designs, delve into the commercial feasibility of their works, and create prototypes. The aim was to provide a platform for young designers to showcase their talents and realize their dreams while injecting more youthful and vibrant elements into Hypak™. Unlike traditional competitions, this final review event wasn't the end, but rather the starting point for the commercialization of innovative designs. Following the competition, Kingwills Advanced Materials will select some of the contestant's works based on the review panel's opinions for commercial implementation.

The organizer, Kingwills Advanced Materials, is committed to becoming the world's most creative materials technology company. The founder, Mr. Chen Boyi, recorded a video specifically for the finals, expressing his expectations and best wishes for the contestants. In the video, Mr. Chen Boyi expressed delight at the contestants' creative designs and encouraged them to perform further in the finals. He stated, "You are the new generation in the field of design, and your creativity and dreams will shape the future world. On this stage, every idea will be valued, and every effort will be recognized. Regardless of the competition's outcome, you are our pride."

Mr. Wu Qiang, Senior Vice President of Kingwills Advanced Materials, also attended the event as a member of the judging panel. He extended his welcome and gratitude to the participants. He mentioned that Hypak™ material is a versatile and widely applicable material, and they look forward to more exchanges and learning with designers, allowing material technology and creative design to deeply integrate and make design works burst with stronger vitality.

Mr. Wu Qiang, Senior Vice President of Kingwills Advanced Materials

This competition was also the first large-scale open innovation project since the establishment of the DIIS x Kingwills Advanced Materials Hypak™ New Material Laboratory at the Shanghai Institute of Innovation and Creative Design in 2023. Srini Srinivasan, Chief Operating Officer of the Shanghai Institute of Innovation and Creative Design and former President of the World Design Organization, witnessed the gradual realization of the contestants' works from concepts to physical prototypes as an expert judge. He stated that each review session delighted him, as the contestants' performances in terms of originality and value dimensions were commendable in the finals. Ms. Zhang Jie, Director of Strategic Development and Ecosystem Incubation at the institute, also praised the contestants' multiple design iterations during the competition and encouraged promoting more cross-disciplinary exchanges to facilitate the realization of innovation.

At the final competition, many works showcased the contestants' rich imagination and deep creativity, such as an integrated cultural gift box, personalized lamps that transform into containers, an educational tissue box designed for children, and erasable, reusable children's books. After evaluating the entries from multiple dimensions, including innovative design, practical problem-solving, commercial feasibility, and sustainability, the top three designs stood out. They were: the "bloomable" planting pot made from waterproof and breathable materials by Li Xinyu from Shanghai Normal University, the portable pneumatic U-shaped pillow developed by Yu Sinan from Tongji University based on the principle of inflatable deformation, and the reminder gift box proposed by Dong Runlin, Zhou Zihan, and Wu Yuting from ShanghaiTech University, designed to keep plans close at hand rather than hanging on the wall.

To commend all participants' efforts and innovative spirits, all finalists received the Excellence in Design Award. In the near future, these creative works will be further refined and are expected to be introduced to the market soon. We look forward to these rising stars in design achieving greater success in the future, driving the deep integration of design and material innovation. Stay tuned!