PBS's Design Squad "Trash To Treasure" Winner Max Wallack, 12,
spent the day Tuesday at Continuum, a Design and Innovation Consultancy
"Home Dome" Inventor Max Wallack Presented with Check for $10,000,
Courtesy of the Intel Foundation"
Boston, MA-February 19th, 2009 - PBS's hit TV
series Design Squad, the Intel Foundation, and By Kids For Kids Co. (BKFK)
teamed up to challenge kids across the country to enter the recycle-themed
"Trash to Treasure" competition. Max Wallack, who won the grand prize for his
Home Dome, which is largely made from discarded plastic and provides temporary
shelter to the homeless and displaced victims of natural disasters, spent the
day Tuesday at Continuum, a design and innovation consultancy, in West Newton,
MA prototyping his invention. Max worked throughout the day with Continuum's
Richard Ciccarelli, director of their model shop, and Beth Johnson, a designer
who has done extensive research on homelessness, building a full-scale version
of the Home Dome. Rich and Beth collaborated with Max to take his idea of an
easy-to-build and efficient shelter for the homeless to the next level.
To
help make Max's concept real, Continuum tweaked his design to so that it was
easy to manufacture and recycle. "We achieved this by making the dome out of
interchangeable polygonal panels similar to a soccer ball," says Ciccarelli.
"This made the assembly process easy and fast. The components for the dome
stayed true to Max's original concept," he added, "which were assembled in such
a way to make them very easy to separate when it comes time to recycle the
dome."
Rob Richardson, east coast education manager for Intel, presented Max with a
$10,000 check from the Intel Foundation for winning the "Trash to Treasure"
competition. Design Squad will feature a video of the Home Dome construction
project when season three premieres nationwide on PBS this fall. The video also
will be available on the Web at
pbs.org/designsquad.
Max's day at Continuum was timed to coincide with National Engineers Week Feb
15-21 ( http://www.eweek.org). The mission
behind the week is to conduct outreach activities that increase kids' interest
in engineering and technology careers and raise public understanding and
appreciation of engineers' contributions to society.
According to Marisa Wolsky, executive producer for WGBH's Design Squad series,
Max's day at Continuum embodies the spirit of National Engineers Week. "Max
invented the Home Dome both to help people and to make a difference in the
world. These are two things that engineers want to accomplish through their
work. On Tuesday, with all of Continuum's resources at his fingertips, Max
experienced a heightened awareness of the possibilities of an engineering career
and was inspired to continue finding solutions to the problems in our world."
Shelly
Esque, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Intel Corporation adds,
"Innovation is the key to solving complex global challenges, like clean water
and climate change. Max's 'Home Dome' demonstrates the kind of creativity and
innovation that Intel encourages and recognizes. Max's idea to recycle trash to
address real-world issues affecting the planet and people's lives is inspiring."
And this from Norman Goldstein, the founder and CEO of By Kids For Kids:
"There's nothing quite like seeing a vision become a reality! We congratulate
Max on his socially conscious, sustainable innovation, the Home Dome and hope
his success inspires other young people to get involved in engineering, design,
and inventing."
About Design Squad on PBS
Design Squad is a reality competition show aimed at kids and people of all ages
who like reality or how-to television. Its goal is to get viewers excited about
engineering and the design process. Over the 13 episodes, eight high school
contestants tackle engineering challenges for real world clients-from creating
cardboard furniture projects for IKEA to designing a gravity bike (no pedals or
cranks!) for Extreme Game champion Tom Whalen. The new season of Design Squad
premieres on PBS in April 2008. In the final episode, the top two scorers battle
for the Grand Prize-a $10,000 college scholarship from the Intel Foundation. The
Design Squad website goes "behind the scenes" with cast interviews, photos,
outtakes, and the inside scoop on each Design Squad challenge. Online, visitors
may watch full-length streams of Design Squad episodes, share their thoughts,
and learn more about the role of engineers in society via
pbs.org/designsquad.
Design Squad is produced by WGBH Boston. Major funding for Season 2 of Design
Squad is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Intel
Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the National Council of Examiners
for Engineering and Surveying, United Engineering Foundation (ASCE, ASME, AIChE,
IEEE, AIME), Noyce Foundation, Northrop Grumman, the IEEE, and the Intel
Corporation.
About the Intel Foundation
Intel Foundation has been developing and funding educational and charitable
programs since 1989. Its mission is to advance science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics education to fuel tomorrow's innovators, with a particular focus
on inspiring women and under-represented minorities to be full participants in
these fields. The Foundation, funded solely by donations from Intel Corporation,
supports Intel employee volunteerism and philanthropy as part of Intel's efforts
to be a good corporate citizen both locally and globally.
About By Kids For Kids Co.
By Kids for Kids® (BKFK®) is a youth marketing and media company partnering with
the world's leading corporations to provide a platform to foster, share,
showcase, and commercialize youth innovation and entrepreneurship. Their mission
is to inspire, motivate, and stimulate the innovative spirit within all young
people. The closely held Stamford, CT-based Corporation has been dedicated to
making youth ideas a reality since 2003. Through its website (www.bkfk.com)
and its social community (Idea Locker™), online competitions, TV show (Think
Big™), magazine (Possible™), press, and educational outreach, the company
engages youth in the US and around the world. BKFK® youth-created products are
available nationally and serve as a testament to the power of youth innovation
and social entrepreneurship. Learn more:
www.bkfk.com
About Continuum
Continuum is a design and innovation consultancy that helps turn ideas into
realities. Through exhaustive investigation and user research, Continuum
undertakes a deeply immersive role in a client's businesses to formulate design
and brand strategies that are both fiscally sound and consumer relevant. Since
1983, Continuum has created meaningful design for companies worldwide including
American Express, Andersen Windows, Procter and Gamble, BMW, Master Lock, Moen,
Samsung, Johnson & Johnson. Continuum has offices in Boston, Milan, and Seoul.
www.dcontinuum.com
# # #
Contacts:
For BKFK:
John Forrester (323) 702-3684 media@bkfk.com
For WGBH:
Kathryn Hathaway (617) 300-5305
kathryn_hathaway@wgbh.org
Nicole Siswick (617) 300-5334
nicole_siswick@wgbh.org