Student Spotlight: Cascade Designs by MCAD

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Therma_Rest_Product_Breakdown

The field of product design is fertile ground for exploring the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the products consumers use everyday. According to sustainability expert Annie Leonard, 99% of the things Americans purchase end up in a landfill within six months.

In the Collaborative Product Design class taught by Jeremy Faludi, students in MCAD’s MA in Sustainable Design program use a variety of design tools and techniques to investigate how to move from the current status quo of the product design industry toward a more sustainable approach.

For the fall 2013 section of the class, teams of students investigated real-world products ranging from skateboard decks to counter-top juicers. One team of students was presented with the particularly interesting challenge of assessing the sustainability of Cascade Designs’ Therm-a-Rest Mira sleeping bag and Therm-a-Rest NeoAir sleeping pad and offering up potential redesign solutions.

Read the rest of the story written by MASD alum (’14), Kate Mohn.