Making shared accommodation spaces more private and secure is the goal behind winning Capstone Design project, Boogaloo Bunks. The team, comprised of students from mechanical, mechatronics and systems design engineering, designed a solution that transforms hostel beds into private and secure personal pods.
Boogaloo Bunks entry into the 90sC Capstone Design Video Competition was a clear winner. In less than 90 seconds, the team was able to effectively communicate the project design and potential in a way that both engaged and educated a non specialist audience. The grand prize of $500 will support the group as they work on a redesign to perfect the prototype. The team also captured an additional $10,000 during the Norman Esch Capstone Design Awards.
"The 90sC really helped our team better prepare for the Capstone Design events," says Brendan Coady (mechanical engineering student). "It gave us a deadline to shoot for in advance of the symposium, and forced us to determine what to keep and cut out of communications about the product."
Team member, Brendan Coady, plans to pursue Boogaloo Bunks full time, along side co-founder and arts student, Caleb Polley. Caleb was instrumental in obtaining early funds to support design of their first privacy pod and test market potential. The team received $4,000 through the Enterprise Co-op E-Launch Awards and $1,000 from the Velocity Fund Finals (VFF) $1K competition in 2014.
Looking into the near future, the group plans to use the recent winnings to improve product design while working out of the Velocity Foundry. Once the re-design is complete, they have hopes of being accepted into a global accelerator program, like Y Combinator and HAXLR8R, to further build the business.