Undergraduate students at The Ohio State University were recently faced with a deceptively complicated challenge at the Institute for Materials Research’s (IMR) INNOVATE-O-thon event: improve the functionality of a package of baby wipes.
The challenge was set by representatives of Procter & Gamble, which produce Pampers disposable towelettes, during a weekend event at the IMR Innovation Lab at Nanotech West Laboratory on West Campus.
INNOVATE-O-thon is a weekend-long, on-campus internship that invites undergraduates studying different disciplines to work together, as well as with faculty, industry or government representatives to solve a real-world problem. Previous challengers include Honda R&D; Black & Decker; Greif, Inc., ENGIE, and DriveOhio.
The challenge this time around concerned Pampers baby wipes packaging.
“We were looking for ways to continue to improve the consumer experience with our wipes packaging,” said Michael Bolander, Baby Care Packaging Manager for P&G North America. “We decided that we were going to go externally and see what kind of innovation we could develop, and that brought us to Ohio State, where we did an INNOVATE-O-thon.”
The students dove right in, familiarizing themselves with the product, identifying any potential frustrations for consumers, and generating initial ideas for product improvement.
“I was completely surprised and blown away by our prompt,” said Shanvanth Arnipalli, a fourth-year student in Environmental Science.
The students had the weekend to design and test alterations to the packaging design, balancing a myriad of tiny details that can add up to a big challenge for any caretaker changing a baby in a rush or restricted to one free hand.
Four engineers from P&G, along with facilitators from IMR, guided more than 40 students through each step of the INNOVATE-O-thon journey, from problem curation and ideation through their final pitch to the company representatives. Teams were composed of undergraduates from a variety of disciplines: materials science, mechanical engineering, computer science, business and others from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Working together, the students used design software to create new concepts, and then brought those concepts to life utilizing 3D printers lent to the IMR Innovation Lab by the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence.
P&G experts offered guidance and constructive criticism, as the students rushed to wrap up summaries and data about their concepts to present to a panel of industry judges.
“Hearing feedback from industry kind of resonates with you a little bit more because it is much different than following a rubric in the classroom,” Arnipalli said. “You actually have hands-on experience by being able to apply what you learned in academia to industry problems.”
The presentations went well, according to the P&G experts, with students even being encouraged to file invention disclosures based on the concepts they developed that weekend.
We have ideas that we are going to immediately take to our supplier for prototyping and put in front of consumers for some consumer testing,” Bolander said.
“Overall, for P&G, working with Ohio State was a huge value.”
For students at Ohio State like Arnipalli, the value went well beyond the product. He said INNOVATE-O-thon offered him the unique experience of working to solve a real-world problem, as part of a multidisciplinary team.
“My whole motivation was to put myself in spaces where you wouldn’t normally see an environmental science major, because this was filled with design students and engineering students,” Arnipalli said. “And it taught me that it doesn’t really matter what kind of major you come from, or background, if you approach with the mindset of no problem is too small to solve.”
INNOVATE-O-thons take place at the IMR Innovation Lab, a 2,500-square-foot space on Ohio State’s West Campus that allows guests to collide while fostering collaboration to maximize impact. IMR operates the Innovation Lab as place where Ohio State staff, guests and industry visitors can engage each other, as well as a variety of students and faculty. The lab’s vision is to make innovation as strong as research.
Story by Mike Huson, Communications Coordinator for the Institute for Materials Research.
Contact: huson.4@osu.edu
Follow: @OhioStateIMR