Colloquium aankondiging

Faculteit Engineering Technology

Afdeling Design, Production and Management
Master opleiding Industrial Design Engineering

In het kader van zijn/haar doctoraalopdracht zal

Blome, M. (Matthias)

een voordracht houden getiteld:

Proof-of-Concept Study of a Product Idea for a portable Air-Conditioning Unit

Datum10-03-2021
Tijd14:00
ZaalTeams

Samenvatting

Today more than 1.7 billion air conditioners are installed worldwide, and the forecasts for this market segment indicate that the demand for cooling appliances will continue to grow rapidly in the future. The air-conditioning technology has become indispensable due to the rising temperatures caused by climate change. The products available are primarily designed according to American and Chinese customers' needs, who represent the largest group in the sales market. While there are already ideal solutions of portable air conditioning units for the sliding windows common in America, an appropriate solution for the tilt and turn windows popular in Europe is missing.

Within the context of this master's thesis, a product idea that addresses this exact market niche will be presented and investigated further. In a comprehensive proof-of-concept study, the product idea is examined and evaluated concerning its commercial and technical opportunities and risks. The focus here is to conduct a comprehensive market study and various technical simulations to classify the potential before further developing the concept idea. Within the scope of the market study, relevant literature was analysed, and a market survey was conducted. Users of conventional portable air conditioners were asked about their experiences, requirements and preferences about these products. This made it possible to characterise and define the target group precisely. In further technical studies, such as the static calculation of the occurring forces or the fluid dynamics analysis, the concept idea's feasibility could be verified. Additionally, patent research was conducted, in which the market was probed for similar concepts. At the end of the proof-of-concept study, a list of first requirements and design proposals for the concept are presented and are intended to provide a direction for later developments.

As this Master's thesis is carried out in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Project Center, a separate section discusses the possibilities for FPC to support similar projects like the following in the future. The aim here is to present the value proposition for the institute and to point out why it could be worthwhile to support students or inventors with their product ideas.