Personal Statement Piece

"Personal Statements" is a project that all of us second year design students just finished. We each spent the last two weeks creating a piece with the intent of introducing ourselves to the design community. On Friday night we had a big presentation and party with lots of alumni and faculty, plus friends and family. It was a wonderful night - everyone's project was just a perfect presentation of the variety and talent of the design program.

My piece was inspired by a toy I had when I was younger that was made up of a hoop with colorful washers strung on it. If you spun the washers and the hoop just right, you could get the washers to hover on the side of the hoop. I built a much larger version and powered the hoop with an old typewriter motor hooked up to some pulleys I made. The hovering rings I made out of acrylic and polycarbonate, and each one has a magnet on the inside. Initially I thought the magnets were what made the hovering thing work, but I was wrong... it's a purely mechanical effect caused by the wobble of the rings as they fall in a helix around the hoop. As the hoop spins, it gives the rings a little lift. It's a pretty magical effect, and the noise the spinning rings make is great. My favorite part of the evening was watching how the hovering rings fascinated people and hearing their crazy explanations for why it worked.