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Clothes hanging system hooks top design award

Grant Riley has beaten off competition from across the country to win the Power of Aluminium Student Design Competition, which challenged undergraduates to design a product which used extruded aluminium as an integral part.

Grant's design - which would be intended for use in venues such as hotels, club cloakrooms and dry cleaners - features individual hangers which are rendered useless if stolen as they can only be used with the system's unique customised rail. The design, which includes aluminium brackets to easily fix the system into existing wardrobes, is low-cost, environmentally-friendly, strong, functional and attractive.

The design also relies on fewer parts than other hanging systems, such as polymer injection moulded hangers which require the addition of a steel hook for strength and durability. Wooden hangers, which are more common, are labour intensive to produce.

Grant's aluminium jewellery designs were also highly commended by the judging panel, and he will receive his prize, along with tutor Martin Higginson, during a Parliamentary Lunch given by the Aluminium Federation on Wednesday 7 July in the House of Lords.

Grant will be presented with an award and a cheque for £1000 by Baroness Gardner of Parkes.

"I'm delighted to have won this award, particularly as there were some excellent ideas and concepts put forward from others," said Grant, who studies product design in Nottingham Trent University's School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment.

He added: "After four years of hard work at Nottingham Trent University, this welcome reward brings industrial validation of a job well done by myself and all who teach product design at this university. The winning design was conceived purely as a concept, but since this renewed interest, I am now in a position to licence the design for manufacture in the UK."

The 'Power of Aluminium' Awards are sponsored by the Aluminium Extruders Association, in conjunction with the Aluminium Federation, the trade association which represents the UK Aluminium Industry.

Source:www.ntu.ac.uk|

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