Campus Mini Velo Bike Wins Oregon Manifest Competition for the Student Winner Category!

If you have been following the Oregon Manifest blog posts, you will already know that the UO Product Design program entered a bike design in the 2011 Oregon Manifest competition.  You can read about the progression of the project and the resulting Campus Mini Velo Bike here on the blog “UO Product Design’s Campus Mini Velo Entered in Oregon Manifest 2011” and “More Relevant than A Segway:  UO’s Oregon Manifest Entry Takes Shape.”  See all the Oregon Manifest competition results on the Oregon Manifest website.

There is more follow-up press in the Wall Street Journal and in Forbes.  Read below for the rest of the story…

You might not know that last night at the Oregon Manifest Constructor’s Design Challenge Awards Gala at Chris King Precision Components, the University of Oregon Product Design bike entry, the Campus Mini Velo Bike won in the Student category.

There was a story that got the UO team to this point, and it needs to be told as the events of Saturday, September 24 will not be soon forgotten by the UO team.

"The Last Will Be The First": Exhausted, hungry, thirsty and still riding, UO's determined rider, Scott Warneke approaches the finish line at dusk after having been riding since 8am.

Saturday night, the man of the hour was University of Oregon product design student, Scott Warneke, bike rider extraordinaire who rode the team’s Campus Mini Velo in the Constructor’s Design Challenge Field Test. Deserving of equal recognition are his illustrious, innovative, creative and ever supportive team mates, Jeremy Androschuk, Teressa Hamje, Adam Horbinski, Ian Kenny, Heath Korvola, and Matt Raphael; and instructors, Christian Freissler and James Molyneux. By nightfall on Saturday, the Field Test would have proven to provide an unexpected adventure and showcase exemplary teamwork, comraderie and compassion, and make Scott something of a legend.

Found by his team's "search-and-rescue" mission, Scott Warneke takes a much needed break where he was found mid-ride. His teammate and project photographer, Heath Korvola documents the moment.

The Constructor’s Design Challenge was to be a long and grueling ride. Bikers in the Oregon Manifest competition left first thing at 8am Saturday morning and would be heading back for a 50+ mile ride from a drop-off point in Buxton west of Portland. After the all-day trek, riders began showing up at the finish line around 3pm Saturday afternoon. But 4pm came and went and UO’s Scott still had not surfaced. Team members began to get concerned. Competitors continued to steadily roll in, but there was no sign of Scott who was riding a purely “urban utility” designed bike with small and hard 20′ wheels over terrain and elevations ideally suited to long distance road bikes.

By 5pm, teammates were concerned enough to strike out via car, tracing the course to find Scott. After about an hour of searching the route of narrow country lanes with steep hills, and lowland city streets, the team got a message from race officials that Scott was still riding, but dehydrated, hungry and exhausted. The team collectively decided to step up the search with a more urgent concern for Scott’s health and safety along with the realization that finishing the course might no longer be attainable. The UO rider was now considered missing-in-action.

Eventually, Scott was found on a forested country road off of Highway 30 (the course had twisted through northwest Portland’s hill and dale)—still going full throttle downhill, and only ready to stop to eat a powerbar and drink a bottled mineral water after laying down and then sitting on the side of the road to rest for a few minutes (see photo above with Heath Korvola photographing). His dedication to finishing the race was truly amazing—his team mates’ sense of support and care was nothing short of remarkable. Finding him and then getting him to rest for a short while on the roadside reassured the team he was faring adequately. While all team members agreed the overwhelming rigors and demands of the ride compelled them to realize finishing might not be the best option given Scott’s condition, it was Scott who decided (insisted) he wanted to make it to the finish and complete the race.

So what had happened? Turns out, at the ride’s start, Scott had quickly separated from the pack of other riders. He had encountered difficult riding conditions of gravel roads, drastically changing altitudes, attacking dogs and screeching peacocks, not to mention minor technical difficulties with one of the brake mechanisms. He made it to the all-important checkpoints: race officials and judges periodically along the course subjected bikes and riders to further testing.  But when Scott arrived at the lunch site, the race crew had already packed up the food and drink. Scott completely missed lunch—the lunch checkpoint was already gone when he rode by.  He was going to have to finish the ride eating only an energy bar and water.

The last Oregon Manifest rider in, Scott Warneke receives congratulations from Oregon Manifest race official and is told there is one more challenge: The Puddle Challenge.

Fastforward to the finish line: as all’s well that ends well. Recovering in what seemed like moments (he must have had youth and adrenaline on his side), Scott was able to pedal across the finish line to enthusiastic applause and accolades from the gathered Oregon Manifest crowd.  Scott became the last of the 2011 Oregon Manifest riders to cross the finish line, but as his instructor, Christian Freissler commented: “the last will be the first.”    His team mates were ecstatic. He had finished the race; he had ridden the Campus Mini Velo over the finish line…and through the last and final test…the puddle challenge!

Turns out, the UO team won in the student division…The rest of the Oregon Manifest night would be pure celebration. After all, the Ducks won!

Read the OregonLive article by Allan Brettman, “Biker Builders Endure 51-Mile ‘Field Test'”....

Read Portland Business Journal’s coverage by Erik Siemers, “Building a Better Bike..”


As a last hurrah, Scott Warneke splashes his way through the Puddle Challenge while teammate, Teressa Hamje (in dress at sidelines) applauds his effort.
UO rider Scott Warneke gets one last and final checkpoint before officially completing the ride.
Scott Warneke is greeted by his mom and dad.
Post-ride debrief session: the team is joined by Kiersten Muenchinger,(far left in red) Product Design Program Director and Associate Professor.
The judges at the announcement of the winners: Joe Breeze,Tinker Hatfield, Rob Forbes, Bill Strickland.
Oregon Manifest Executive Director Jocelyn SyCip holds up the winning ribbon for University of Oregon as the announcement is made the UO team won for the Student Category.
Ian Kenny and Scott Warneke get their Campus Mini Velo ready for public viewing and admiration by securing attachments and the winning ribbon.

Post and photos: sabina samiee

 

UO Product Design's "Campus Mini Velo Bike" Entered in Oregon Manifest 2011

Product Design is all about positively modernizing the things we use. It addresses the way we envision what we use and how we use it, how we transport ourselves, how we get our stuff from point a to point b, improving objects we use everyday, and pushing the limits with pioneering yet always better and more useful products. This summer a group of UO product design students, all with diverse and fascinating backgrounds, gathered under the direction and guidance of instructors Christian Freissler and James Molyneux to produce this year’s standout success story: an entry in the 2011 Oregon Manifest bike design challenge. Their creative vision, their months of dialogue and discovery, and their research delving into the history and function of bike design and production has yielded something truly remarkable: The Campus Bike. Read on for the whole story……

UO Product Design Oregon Manifest student | designers with their Oregon Manifest entry bike, The Campus Mini Velo: Jeremy Androschuk, Teressa Hamje, Adam Horbinski, Ian Kenny, Heath Korvola, Matt Raphael (not pictured), Scott Warneke.

 

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24 September 2011

by sabina samiee

In a city that is already teetering on the verge of velophilia, things escalated this weekend with a special competition of innovation and spirit to find a modern utility bike. Bike designers nationwide converged at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland’s Pearl District for the annual 2011 Oregon Manifest. Sponsored by Levi’s this was no ordinary fete. Designers, craftspeople, and students have been working since February 2011 to create a new bike for the modern daily urban bike rider. The goal was to develop an integrated Tool for Living and “ a bike not yet seen on the retail floor.” You can get the full scoop on Oregon Manifest from their website.

The premiere bike designed and built by White Stag Cycles "The Campus Mini Velo Bike" 2011.

So it was that on the morning of September 23, 2011, the PNCA Commons became a seafull of the big, the bold and the beautiful: gleaming bikes corralled for photo ops and public scrutiny. It was a plethora of colorful sparkling metal, and black polished circumferences of tires, sparkling roulette-like spokes of wheels, pristine components and parts soon to be sullied by September 24’s planned 50+ mile Challenge Ride. Not to mention droves of hipster bike people….everywhere.

So many bikes, bikes, and more bikes...this is a mere fraction of the bikes on display at PNCA for Oregon Manifest 2011.

The order of the day was predominantly large-scale, prodigious-looking and commanding, chockfull of features and accessories enough to fascinate and amaze even the most jaded bike enthusiast. Bikes with side carts and extra wheels, bikes with clunky wooden shelves, bikes with grand metal frame baskets, bikes with briefcases, bottles, and contraptions to carry everything from a child, to a pizza to a chicken to an endless supply of tools and instruments and gadgets: it seemed nothing had been forgotten or overlooked. The PNCA Commons had been transformed into a bike lover’s dream—a candy store of velo delights.

The Oregon Manifest esteemed panel of judges gaze at the Campus Mini Velo bike. Judges were Tinker Hatfield, Rob Forbes, Joe Breeze, and Bill Strickland.

But in the midst this beautiful and bright bicyclette cacophony of metals and rubber, wood and plastic, there stood, very upright, casual yet dignified, something neat, sweet and petite. If good things come in small packages, the brilliance of the UO Product Design team is not to be underestimated. Their Campus Mini Velo Bike, a model of efficiency, simplicity and diminutive structure, stood out not because it overwhelmed the competition but because its design was so refreshingly….pure, well-thought out, and crafted to satisfy the “Everyman” (let’s just say, every person). This bike’s bantam-like frame did not lack a sense of strength and fortitude—and, indeed, the steel frame painted a sprightly white and keen green, had been welded to produce a structure able to withstand height, weight and duration of any user perched atop two 20” tires. Even the bike’s tires presented a model of consideration: they are airless, utilizing a technology whereby tire inflation becomes an unnecessary inconvenience and thing of the past. The small nature of the tires (at a significant 7” below customary bike wheel diameter), allows greater use of the storage space incorporated into the velo’s frame. From the top of the tires to the handle bars, it is roomy, with space available to tote pretty much anything one would want to take on a bike.  This bike is all about the convenience of attachments (such as rear and front lights) and the conspicuous absence of obvious gadgets.

A UO fighting duck embellishes the rear light attachment. Go Ducks!

Subtle in stature but powerful in concept, the Campus Bike was rolled before the panel of judges who were already emitting quiet ooo’s and ah’s at its neon green and white frame and its curious seemingly absent extraneous add-ons. What ensued in front of judges, Tinker Hatfield (famed NIKE designer chosen by TIME magazine as one of the most influential designers of the 20th century), Rob Forbes (PUBLIC BIKES), Joe Breeze (Breezer Bikes) and Bill Strickland (Bicycling) could only have been described as a clever, humorous, and quite entertaining presentation designed to instruct as well as demonstrate.

Student Heath Korvola narrates the presentation of Campus Bike features as judges look on.

As one student narrated, others approached the bike, in turn, and made use of its different very well-integrated features. The students effectively used the bike as it remained stationary with the intriguing spring-loaded, fully retractable kickstand making it entirely upright and solid on three weight-bearing points. Six-packs of beer, books, groceries, locked compartments, and the rear-carrying device were secured by an internally retracting zig-zaging bungee system that can, apparently, also securely carry something odd-shaped like a soccer ball. The team silently made use of all these features even securing a latte paper cup while the judges looked on amused….and impressed. This was a clear demonstration of practicality and utility.

Student | Designer Scott Warneke demonstrates features useful on a rainy day.

 

Judge Tinker Hatfield steps forward to examine some finer points on the Campus Mini Velo.
The UO team got to have a good deal of communication and hands-on interaction from the judges as they explained the Campus Mini Velo.

It bears mentioning that the Campus Bike has features that are the culmination of months of brainstorming by the UO team. Everything on this bike from the 3 speeds, hub gearing, belt drive, and disc brakes to the concept of low maintenance (no lube necessary, hence no visits to the bike maintenance shop) to the disappearing internal chain system (no more oil marks on pants or pants’ fabric caught up in a messy chain) to the moisture-sealed frame and components (no rust or corrosion) make this bike shine. And while there is a great diversity to the backgrounds that this team shares, (one student came with absolutely no previous knowledge of bikes, some are seasoned and experienced bike riders, and some work, study and play in creative fields such as photography, videography and woodworking) one feature they have in common is an interest in and passion for product design and the innovative pursuit of things that make life better and that can make living and transportation a viable, accessible, pleasurable, and sustainable concept.

The Campus Bike was designed with the consummate University of Oregon student in mind: a person who needs to travel relatively short distances, be comfortable even in a rainy downpour, have cargo options, and exist as a “microcosm” of the real world. Practicality and the “campus story” (deemed a life of study, books, visiting friends, transporting food and drink, being mobile, and being happily on-the-go) was of tantamount consideration. But by designing for this ubiquitous student, the UO team hopes they have made something “small, approachable, and friendly” says student|designer, Teressa Hamje. The Campus Bike is something that has the realistic potential to prevail and provide a snappy comeback to the bikes we know and use today.

This is the little bike that could….and, if the bike design community has anything to do with it….would and should be carrying its vision and the practice of simple, efficient, accessible bike design well into the future. The Campus Bike will perhaps influence bike design and the formulation of more practical, usable bikes for a brave new world of eco-minded, efficiency-concerned, regular folk. Maybe the Campus Bike just goes to show, small is the new big.

[Winners of the Oregon Manifest 2011 will be announced today, the 24th of September at 6pm (PST).  This blog post will be updated to announce the results.  We wish our UO team the best!]

The UO team is comprised of students Jeremy Androschuk, Teressa Hamje, Adam Horbinski, Ian Kenny,  Heath Korvola, Matt Raphael, and Scott Warneke under the instruction and guidance of Christian Freissler and James Molyneux and with direction from Kiersten Muenchinger, Program Director and Associate Professor for the UO Product Design program in both Portland at the White Stag and in Eugene on the main UO campus.  The UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts in Portland is led by Administrative Director, Kate Wagle who is instrumental in bringing courses such as Manifest Oregon to the University of Oregon in Portland.  The Oregon Manifest project was a part of The Summer in the City program.

The UO team is indebted to the assistance and hands-on fabrication expertise of Dave Levy, owner of TiCycles Fabrication.

It is all about the details: a locked, triangular space, neat and tidy.
The greaseless, contained "bike chain"---no more grease marks on clothing, no more need to oil the chain.
A built-in springloaded, retractable sculptural-like kickstand. Pretty much contemporary art on a bike.
The simple beauty of bike components.

 

UO Architecture Students place in ACADIA/FLATCUT_ Competition

Blowfish LampGeoffrey Sosebee and Max Taschek placed as Finalists in the 2011 Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture ACADIA/FLATCUT_ Design + Fabrication Competition competing against professional designers.  Geoff developed the Blowfish Lamp that changes shape from cylindrical to in Nancy Cheng’s Spring 2011 Light and Shadow class.  He used Grasshopper software so that lasercutting outlines would be automatically generated for according to the desired final shape.  Max Taschek designed the winning graphics that explained the project’s concept and clarified it’s construction.  The jury included  Tod Williams, TWBTA; Chris Sharples, SHoP Architects; Dror Benshetrit, Studio Dror and Thomas Christofferson, BIG.  Nancy Cheng is the 2009-2011 president of ACADIA (http://www.ACADIA.org)

More info at Geoff’s blog: http://gesose.wordpress.com/

Everyone can download a FREE copy of  Parametricism (SPC), ACADIA 2011 Proceedings of the Regional Conference! In March, ACADIA  held a conference to examine how flexible parametric design thinking could be applied to many facets of architecture. The conference proceedings shows how the digital approach can solve complex architectural problems within social and environmental contexts.

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/arch_facultyschol/21/