Wellesley, Mass., Babson College MBA students and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Industrial Design students have come up with eight new product concepts to be showcased at the Product Design Fair Tuesday, Dec. 4^th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Needham-Wellesley room, Olin Hall on the Babson College campus. 39 Babson MBA students and 16 RISD students in eight joint teams developed the designs during the single-semester Product Design and Development course at Babson, the top-ranked business school for Entrepreneurship education.

Says Babson Professor Sebastian Fixson, “Much of the value of a project-based course like ours that brings together students from two very different schools comes from the experiences the students make in working on their projects.  We teach them the product development process and introduce them to tools and techniques for individual tasks, but the major gain of understanding of the multidisciplinary nature of product development comes from working through the actual problems that their teams face.”

This year’s new Product Designs include:

• An innovative pet gate that combines aesthetics and function.  It blends with your home décor, allows ease of passage for people and permits visibility of your dogs on the opposite side, where you want them.  Project sponsored by Midnight Pass, Inc.
  
  
• A walking aid that is more durable, highly stable, and easily maneuvered; in a tripod design that outperforms the bulky, conspicuous, traditional walker.  Project sponsored by Essential Design.
  
  
• For supermarkets, a shopping incentive system that is simple and adaptable to various store environments.  Computer card scan delivers coupons to customers.  Project sponsored by Incentive Targeting, Inc.
  
  
• An environmental water bottle, inspired by natural forms made from recycled materials.  The bottle is made from safe plastics that will not leach chemicals into the water, while helping people reduce their consumption of disposable water bottles.  Project sponsored by Recycline, Inc.
  
  
• Chappy - an innovative and beautifully designed eco-friendly chapstick targeted at outdoor enthusiasts that makes applying chapstick under extreme conditions easy and convenient.
  
  
• Also for supermarkets, a modular recipe display center to service customers with all kinds of recipes for every need in a user-friendly, engaging design.
  
  
• A baby temperature monitor that creates peace of mind for parents with sick children. It allows parents to wirelessly monitor their baby's temperature from a distance so that they may take immediate steps to reduce their baby's fever and discomfort.
  
  
• New children’s furniture that is functionally smart and playfully stylish. Project sponsored by P’Kolino.