Fab lab partnership

20 Sep 2017


Imagine running or walking the streets at night lacking the appropriate reflective gear. A car is coming, but the driver can’t see you.

Yaroslava Barmenkova and Azamat Tavitov from the National University of Science and Technology (MISiS) in Moscow, Russia, recently worked for two weeks with University of Wisconsin-Stout Associate Professor Jennifer Astwood to develop sensory device prototypes.

Their collaborative work on sensory devices and digital fabrication, as a part of the scholar/faculty exchange partnership between UW-Stout and MISiS, involves concepts that begin to solve the night pedestrian visibility problem.

“We are focusing on wearables and designs that speak to the term conspicuity: to be seen or to draw attention to,” said Astwood, who teaches industrial design in UW-Stout’s School of Art and Design.

Astwood’s safety device is expected to respond to proximity, lighting up to alert both runners and drivers. The goal of each concept is to meet the needs of advanced safety technology.

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