Boom goes the industrial design

Picture source: http://a2ru.org
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER – VOLUME: 47 NUMBER: 2

Prindle, who spent 35 years designing products that were used by companiesnow is an assistant professor of industrial design at Iowa State University. But the bomb-resistant trash can was an idea that never made it to market during his practitioner career.It’s Prindle’s first project as an academic. Once proven, the technology offers possibilities for his Iowa State design students to create other explosive-proof architectural products, like doors, barricades and walls.

The trash can looks like a common receptacle used in public places. But the interior has a cylinder lined with shock-absorbing concrete wrapped in a reinforced material. Prindle is in touch with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers researcher he worked with years ago when he first had the idea. He’ll ship prototypes to the corps’ Engineer Research and Development Center’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory in Vicksburg, Mississippi.