Solve a world problem--creative engineering
In this project, we had to experiment and design a solution to a world problem. For our group, we identified and addressed a small but widespread problem: weak and damaging hair ties.
Our infomercial
Our presentation slideshow
The Process
For this project, we used these 7 steps as guides:
1. Define the problem/identify the need: our problem was weak and damaging hair ties, which is something that anyone with long hair has encountered.
2. Research: Each member in my group researched different topics relating to our problem. I personally researched how heat and moisture affect rubber bands. The head is a huge heat source on the human body, and when doing activity that typically requires a hair tie, people are quite likely to get sweaty, so moisture is a concern. We conducted an experiment to find possible solutions. You can find the experiment in detail in our slideshow presentation above.
3. Brainstorm solutions: After experimenting and finding that rubber bands stretch with heat and moisture, which causes them to loosen and potentially fall out, we decided not to make our hair tie out of a rubber band. Instead, we decided to make ours out of silicone.
4. Choose a plan: Before our mind was fully set on using silicone, we tested it with our heat and moisture experiment from before. Our results showed that silicone was barely affected by heat and moisture and far less affected by it than the rubber band. This showed us that silicone was our best bet. We knew, however, that just a silicone hair tie would grab and stick to hair, causing potential hurt and ripping out of hair. We decided to individually wrap the silicone band with hand-knotted embroidery floss.
5. Construct a prototype: After finding a solution, we spent the next couple days individually hand-knotting the floss around the silicone hair tie. We decided to call it the Jolie Tie from the french word "jolie", meaning pretty, because the embroidery floss allowed us to make our design into attractive, multi-colored, custom designed hair ties.
6. Test and evaluate: Once we had made a few of our new design, we had two of our groupmates do some testing. Both of them had the same hair type, but one was using a regular rubber band hair tie sold in stores and the other using the Jolie Tie. They put them in their hair and did various exercises. After these tests, it was obvious that our design was better than the classic rubber band hair tie on the market today that everyone purchases--ours held much more securely, firmly, and comfortably.
7. Redesign or communicate: After seeing our design working, we were thrilled and started to wear them a lot in our everyday life. With a lot of usage, we found that the embroidery floss started to come loose and unravel where the beginning and end of the tied floss met and overlapped. To fix this, we double knotted it on top of where they met; this has proven to work really well, and now they hold up much better.
1. Define the problem/identify the need: our problem was weak and damaging hair ties, which is something that anyone with long hair has encountered.
2. Research: Each member in my group researched different topics relating to our problem. I personally researched how heat and moisture affect rubber bands. The head is a huge heat source on the human body, and when doing activity that typically requires a hair tie, people are quite likely to get sweaty, so moisture is a concern. We conducted an experiment to find possible solutions. You can find the experiment in detail in our slideshow presentation above.
3. Brainstorm solutions: After experimenting and finding that rubber bands stretch with heat and moisture, which causes them to loosen and potentially fall out, we decided not to make our hair tie out of a rubber band. Instead, we decided to make ours out of silicone.
4. Choose a plan: Before our mind was fully set on using silicone, we tested it with our heat and moisture experiment from before. Our results showed that silicone was barely affected by heat and moisture and far less affected by it than the rubber band. This showed us that silicone was our best bet. We knew, however, that just a silicone hair tie would grab and stick to hair, causing potential hurt and ripping out of hair. We decided to individually wrap the silicone band with hand-knotted embroidery floss.
5. Construct a prototype: After finding a solution, we spent the next couple days individually hand-knotting the floss around the silicone hair tie. We decided to call it the Jolie Tie from the french word "jolie", meaning pretty, because the embroidery floss allowed us to make our design into attractive, multi-colored, custom designed hair ties.
6. Test and evaluate: Once we had made a few of our new design, we had two of our groupmates do some testing. Both of them had the same hair type, but one was using a regular rubber band hair tie sold in stores and the other using the Jolie Tie. They put them in their hair and did various exercises. After these tests, it was obvious that our design was better than the classic rubber band hair tie on the market today that everyone purchases--ours held much more securely, firmly, and comfortably.
7. Redesign or communicate: After seeing our design working, we were thrilled and started to wear them a lot in our everyday life. With a lot of usage, we found that the embroidery floss started to come loose and unravel where the beginning and end of the tied floss met and overlapped. To fix this, we double knotted it on top of where they met; this has proven to work really well, and now they hold up much better.
Reflection
Overall this was one of my favorite projects this year. Our group was able to actually build a hair tie that worked extraordinarily well. It was very satisfying to see our design work. In fact, we even gave our hair tie to a few friends who loved them and suggested we sell them! For this project we had a big group. I was in a group with a few close friends and I also became closer to newer friends. I enjoyed being able to work on my leadership skills by giving new ideas and conducting experiments.