Finalists

Congratulations to all of the Finalists on a job well done! The jury reviewed more than 225 projects and were overwhelmed by the quality of design and the thoughtful consideration of this truly global problem. After two days of careful deliberation, the following projects were selected as the most outstanding examples of design thinking:

Prototype for Every Drop Counts monitors Every Drop Counts
Ulrik Svenningsen
Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
Oli sensor, mat, and collection seat prototypes FLUID
Brad Smith, Franklin Crosby, Nallieli Santamaria, Raymond Bessemer, Sergio Coronado, Sean Whang
Samsung Design Membership 2008, United States
This project was withdrawn in July of 2009.
personal Emergency Water Purifier prototypeRescue Bottle
Ceren Bagatar
Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
Rethink Your Green posters Rethink Your Green
Manuel Garcia, Eileen Hsu, Pouya Jahanshahi, Masato Nakada, Michelle Park, Maece Seirafi-Najar
California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), United States
Prototypes for Improve the River Jadro Save the River Jadro
Igor Carli
Arts Academy University of Split, Croatia
Veggie Patch prototype drawing VeggiePatch
Jo Szczepanska
Monash University, Australia
Improved Ceramic Filter prototypesVhembe Filter
Martin Bolton
University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Honorable Mentions

The following projects were selected as Honorable Mention for their outstanding design contributions:

Blue Day
Aisha Bin Zayed, Hanan Hairab and Shamsa Al Suwaidi
Dubai Women’s College, United Arab Emirates

Awareness campaign targeted at reducing domestic water usage in Dubai.
Blue Side
Punyaruk Baingern, Panchalee Phungsoondara, Emery Ullenberg and Maxx Valenti
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, United States

Organization striving to inspire awareness and action to support a large-scale water conservation effort.
GCH4 Waterless Toilet System
Virginia Gardiner
Royal College of Art, United Kingdom

Toilet design with a waterless, mechanical system for packaging and transport, facilitating a new urban infrastructure in which human waste is locally traded for energy and fertilizer.
Know Water: An interactive Mapping Platform
Ted Alcorn, Stan Alcorn, Joseph Bergen and Nicholas Dubroff
Johns Hopkins University, Yale College, Harvard University and  Massachusetts Institute of Technology; United States

Interactive, multimedia mapping platform consisting of website housing water case studes and a multimedia kiosk allowing individuals to contribute information locally.
Sonic Water Meter
Alf Bae
Hongik University IDAS, South Korea

Device designed to measure water usage and patterns from a sonic sensor without touching a pipe line, allowing individuals to actively track and save water at home.
sWell
Alaina Prokopchuk
University of Manitoba, Canada

Solar-powered, mobile, inflatable filtration unit that filters gray floodwater into fresh potable water, and doubles as a life raft in flood conditions.
The Global Water Footprint of Humanity
Angela Morelli Central
St. Martins University of London, United Kingdom

Campaign to raise awareness of the way we use water and of the invisible water footprint of products consumed and produced by each county.
THIS IS IT
Kylie Holms
Monash University, Australia

Global marketing campagin against the use of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) water bottles.
Virtual Water Revealed
Kizzy Ezirio
San Diego State University, United States

Labeling system allowing the consumer to visually identify and compare the amount of water used to produce each agricultural product.
Your Water
Cristina Bianchi and Pekka Raety
University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland

Multi-vehicle sustainable system of promoting the local resource of tap water.

Next Steps

The seven Finalist teams will refine and develop their proposals to prepare for presentations in Copenhagen in August 2009:

  • Finalists participate in a three-day workshop from June 23–25 in Aspen, Colorado, United States to develop business plans and refine project presentations
  • Finalists invited to Copenhagen from August 25–28 for a collaborative workshop in connection with the INDEX: Award 2009; implementation plans developed with venture capitalists, social investors and businesses
  • August 28, 2009: One Finalist team awarded INDEX: | AIGA Aspen Design Challenge Prize, a $10,000 grant to be put towards implementation of the winning project
  • October 2009: All Finalists’ projects published
  • November-December 2009: Selection of projects presented to participants of the World Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen
  • 1/28
    Rescue Bottle
    Ceren Bagatar of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 2/28
    Every Drop Counts
    Ulrik Svenningsen of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 3/28
    Vhembe Filter
    Martin Bolton of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 4/28
    Rethink Your Green
    Manuel Garcia; Eileen Hsu; Pouya Jahanshahi; Masato Nakada; Michelle Park and Maece Seirafi-Najar of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
  • 5/28
    Save the River Jadro
    Igor Carli of the Arts Academy University of Split, Croatia
  • 6/28
    VeggiePatch
    Jo Szczepanska of Monash University, Australia
  • 7/28
    Rescue Bottle
    Ceren Bagatar of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 8/28
    Every Drop Counts
    Ulrik Svenningsen of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 9/28
    Vhembe Filter
    Martin Bolton of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 10/28
    Rethink Your Green
    Manuel Garcia; Eileen Hsu; Pouya Jahanshahi; Masato Nakada; Michelle Park and Maece Seirafi-Najar of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
  • 11/28
    Save the River Jadro
    Igor Carli of the Arts Academy University of Split, Croatia
  • 12/28
    VeggiePatch
    Jo Szczepanska of Monash University, Australia
  • 13/28
    Rescue Bottle
    Ceren Bagatar of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 14/28
    Every Drop Counts
    Ulrik Svenningsen of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 15/28
    Vhembe Filter
    Martin Bolton of the University of Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 16/28
    Rethink Your Green
    Manuel Garcia; Eileen Hsu; Pouya Jahanshahi; Masato Nakada; Michelle Park and Maece Seirafi-Najar of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
  • 17/28
    Save the River Jadro
    Igor Carli of the Arts Academy University of Split, Croatia
  • 18/28
    VeggiePatch
    VeggiePatch
  • 19/28
    Rescue Bottle
    Ceren Bagatar of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 20/28
    Every Drop Counts
    Ulrik Svenningsen of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 21/28
    Rethink Your Green
    Manuel Garcia; Eileen Hsu; Pouya Jahanshahi; Masato Nakada; Michelle Park and Maece Seirafi-Najar of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
  • 22/28
    Save the River Jadro
    Igor Carli of the Arts Academy University of Split, Croatia
  • 23/28
    VeggiePatch
    Jo Szczepanska of Monash University, Australia
  • 24/28
    Rescue Bottle
    Ceren Bagatar of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 25/28
    Rethink Your Green
    Manuel Garcia; Eileen Hsu; Pouya Jahanshahi; Masato Nakada; Michelle Park and Maece Seirafi-Najar of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
  • 26/28
    VeggiePatch
    Jo Szczepanska of Monash University, Australia
  • 27/28
    Rescue Bottle
    Ceren Bagatar of the Umea Institute of Design, Sweden
  • 28/28
    VeggiePatch
    Jo Szczepanska of Monash University, Australia