The objective of this project is to redesign hair tools to enhance the physical health aspects of professionals in the hair industry, requiring innovative solutions that not only address immediate concerns but also contribute to the ongoing development of the team’s product design skills.
Sponsored by: PSU REID Lab 3
Team Members
Jalynn Burruss Chenyang Gou Ella Nguyen Olivia Wilson Peter Winters
Instructor: Professor Margaret Busse
Project Poster
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Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
Our sponsor, Dr. Tahira Reid Smith, presented us with the issue of addressing places for improvement in the hair and beauty salon. Our team decided to focus on improving the long-term health and well-being of those within the hair care profession through developing an ergonomic comb kit.
Objectives
– Decrease the time of the foiling process with the foiling comb.
– Decrease the strain on hairdressers’ wrists while using the team’s combs.
Approach
– Customer needs were investigated through online surveys, calling local hair salons and barber shops, and a visit to the Altoona Beauty School.
– The alpha prototype, our parting comb, was brought to a local hair salon to receive feedback for improvements.
– The team created three other combs with different functions to create a comb set.
– Multiple iterations for each comb design were created in SolidWorks and 3D printed with Prusa MK3 and Prusa MK4 printers.
– The comb set was taken to another local hair salon to receive feedback before the final prototype process.
Outcomes
– The sponsor will save $1,074.63 as we only used $175.37 of our budget.
– The time to 3D print our combs is around two-four hours for each comb.
– An outcome of our project is that our sponsor now has the SOLIDWORK designs of our combs and the 3D printed models, so our sponsor can update the designs if needed to continue our project.
– This project can be expanded by finding the best way to manufacture our combs.
– The result of our project is that hairstylists can use our comb designs in their line of work to make hair cutter easier and to reduce injuries caused by repetitive motion.
– Our project developed a new approach of foiling hair and braiding hair due to our comb set. The comb with the grip and the clip comb makes braiding more comfortable for the hair stylist. The foiling comb makes foiling easier because it can separate the hair into two layers. Finally, the caliper comb makes braiding easier, as the caliper piece can be used to part hair and to precisely measure hair parts to limit the hair stylist’s hand movements to decrease injuries.