Taipei Tech Shines with International Honors at the iF Design Student Award and ADC Young Ones

Taipei Tech’s Department of Industrial Design is gaining international recognition! Product design students Lin Yun-jhu and Lim Pei-cher won the highly competitive 2024 iF Design Student Award for their Trekking Pole Rental Station concept, representing just 1% of all submissions. The award ceremony took place in Milan, Italy. Additionally, graduate students Lee Yuan-chieh and Guo Jia-xin received the Young Ones Student Award at the 2024 New York Art Directors Club Annual Awards (ADC) for Touchable Message—the only winning entry from the Asia-Pacific region in the product design category.
Reflecting on her project, Lin Yun-jhu shared that hiking with her grandfather helped her understand the benefits of trekking poles in reducing muscle and knee strain. She realized that it is more environmentally sustainable if those who do not hike often can rent trekking poles instead of purchasing them. Together with Lim Pei-cher, they proposed Let’s Summit, a trekking pole rental service that centers around green economy and sustainable development. Their concept involves installing rental stations at trailheads and midway points, enabling hikers to make one-way rentals, which means they can pick up or drop off trekking poles at different locations along their route. The system is designed to be accessible through a mobile interface and support mobile payments. The trekking poles also feature GPS and SOS buttons for safety, aiding rescue efforts and reducing search time.
The iF jury commented, “Some people only realize that they need a trekking pole after they start climbing, especially those with little mountaineering experience who may not fully understand their physical capabilities. In this instance, this design can enhance their experience and motivate them to continue.”
Advisor Huang Meng-fan from Taipei Tech emphasized that sustainability and AI are key trends. The Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) model, favoring renting over ownership, reduces waste and promotes sustainability, making it one of the six core Circular Economy Strategies popularized by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The students spent a year refining their designs and utilized generative AI to enhance their posters, demonstrating remarkable dedication.
Touchable Message, the ADC award-winning project, was inspired by Lee Yuan-chieh’s observation that people with visual impairments struggle to hear mobile messages in noisy settings. Touchable Message lets users read messages by touching the clip-on braille display on their white canes, a specialized cane for the visually impaired. Through Bluetooth, the device can translate and display messages on the user’s mobile phone in the standard six-dot braille, allowing users to access the messages anytime, anywhere.
Advisor Zheng Meng-cong believes this inclusive design aligns with the UN’s sustainability development goal of reducing inequalities. It enhances information accessibility for the visually impaired, reflecting the designers’ empathy and commitment to equality through thoughtful design.
Reflecting on her project, Lin Yun-jhu shared that hiking with her grandfather helped her understand the benefits of trekking poles in reducing muscle and knee strain. She realized that it is more environmentally sustainable if those who do not hike often can rent trekking poles instead of purchasing them. Together with Lim Pei-cher, they proposed Let’s Summit, a trekking pole rental service that centers around green economy and sustainable development. Their concept involves installing rental stations at trailheads and midway points, enabling hikers to make one-way rentals, which means they can pick up or drop off trekking poles at different locations along their route. The system is designed to be accessible through a mobile interface and support mobile payments. The trekking poles also feature GPS and SOS buttons for safety, aiding rescue efforts and reducing search time.
The iF jury commented, “Some people only realize that they need a trekking pole after they start climbing, especially those with little mountaineering experience who may not fully understand their physical capabilities. In this instance, this design can enhance their experience and motivate them to continue.”
Advisor Huang Meng-fan from Taipei Tech emphasized that sustainability and AI are key trends. The Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) model, favoring renting over ownership, reduces waste and promotes sustainability, making it one of the six core Circular Economy Strategies popularized by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The students spent a year refining their designs and utilized generative AI to enhance their posters, demonstrating remarkable dedication.
Touchable Message, the ADC award-winning project, was inspired by Lee Yuan-chieh’s observation that people with visual impairments struggle to hear mobile messages in noisy settings. Touchable Message lets users read messages by touching the clip-on braille display on their white canes, a specialized cane for the visually impaired. Through Bluetooth, the device can translate and display messages on the user’s mobile phone in the standard six-dot braille, allowing users to access the messages anytime, anywhere.
Advisor Zheng Meng-cong believes this inclusive design aligns with the UN’s sustainability development goal of reducing inequalities. It enhances information accessibility for the visually impaired, reflecting the designers’ empathy and commitment to equality through thoughtful design.