A light bulb has to go on for every great idea.

The moment came for Ohio State University design student Jamie Perin of LaGrange when she was at her gym in Columbus.

A young man with an amputated arm struggled to tie his shoe. Not wanting to interfere, Perin watched out of the corner of her eye.

“It was really difficult and it took him a couple of times,” said Perin, 23. “I went home and tried to tie my shoe with one hand — I did it, but it was really hard.”

As chance would have it, Perin had been assigned disabilities as her class project for the country’s most prestigious student design competition, sponsored by the International Housewares Association.

She tinkered with a device that could be attached under the laces of a shoe with a knob that would act as a “second hand” by stabilizing the lace. Once tied, the top of the device could be folded over the knob to further secure the tie.

Once on the shoe, the light and flexible device can be used over and over again without being removed.

Perin placed third of 283 entries from design schools all over the country in the 17th annual Student Design Competition sponsored by the IHA. She is now creating a prototype that eventually could be manufactured in several colors.

When an estimated 60,000 people from around the world show up at the 2010 International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago, March 14 to 16, they will see her EZ Lace.

The 2005 Keystone High School graduate will receive $1,200 and an all-expenses paid trip to the show, where she hopes to meet with companies with the hopes of licensing the EZ Lace for manufacture.

Already, J.C. Penney Co. has been calling to ask her about her plans.

Selling the invention would be great, but Perin said she’d be happy just to get an internship as a result of her win.

“Our field is so small and it’s competitive, so you have to take any advantage you can get,” she said.

Her mom, Jane, and father, Jim, plan to accompany her to Chicago along with some friends.

Perin, a student athlete while at Keystone, said she really hopes people can benefit from the design — perhaps even the young man she saw struggling to tie his shoe.

“I’ll have to hunt him down and thank him,” she said. “Just to get recognition for something I designed is the most awesome thing.”

The competition

The annual challenge is to redesign a current product to meet the needs of the future or to create a concept for a new product.

The projects are selected for their innovation, understanding of production and marketing principles and quality of entry materials. A jury of 10 designers, working in a blind judging process, recognized great concepts, backed up with research, development and creative design, to award a total of 12 prizes to students in six design schools in the United States.

“Many past winners have received jobs because of their experience at the show,” said Victoria Matranga, IHA’s design programs coordinator.

This year’s winners were chosen by a jury that included designers from IHA member companies, design consultants and two educators. The 10 judges spent many volunteer hours reviewing the submissions, which consisted of written materials, sketches, engineering drawings and slides.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---