Matt Steiger

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

Design should be....

Intuitive design is clear, clean, and understandable.

Unobtrusive design improves people’s everyday lives without them even thinking about it.

Honest design leads the user to a feeling of fellowship with the product.

INTUITIVE

UNOBTRUSIVE

HONEST

SYMBIOTIC HERB GARDEN

Living in the city, it doesn’t take long to realize that space is at a premium. Having the space for an herb garden is almost laughable, but any chef will tell you that fresh ingredients are the key to any delicious meal. The gap between the urban kitchen and the garden is much too wide.

MODULAR BIRDHOUSE COLONY

The world’s population is growing at an exponential rate and our cities are constantly expanding. This urban sprawl is happening so quickly that people are forgetting about the natural world around them. The city soundscape is comprised of freeways, sirens, ringtones, barking, and car alarms, just to name a few. The goal of this project is to invite the natural world to come back and dwell with us once again.

TRAVELLINGSCREEN

A cooling water filtration system redesign for the Saint Johns River Power Park (SJRPP) developed during Senior Design I & II. The previous system was inefficient and unsafe. It filtered debris by means of a static screen that had to be removed by crane and picked clean by maintenance staff.

CONTENTS

DIVERTERCHUTE

Design a diverter chute for a non-ferrous scrap metal bisquitter. This chute will need to divert the flow of material on command.

EASY-PACKSLEEPING BAG

A collaborative effort between a fellow designer and myself to improve the worst part of camping - packing up the sleeping bag when it’s time to go.

CADMODELING

A personal test of my own Solidworks® knowledge. I challenged myself to create CAD models of items from the world arond me using only a digital caliper and measuring tape.The following are the fruits of my labor.

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SYMBIOTIC HERB GARDEN

OVERVIEW

CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

Living in the city, it doesn’t take long to realize that space is at a premium. Having the space for an herb garden is almost laughable, but any chef will tell you that fresh ingredients are the key to any delicious meal. The gap between the urban kitchen and the garden is much too wide.

Bring fresh ingredients closer to the kitchen. The design is to be self-contained and low maintenance.

This design utilizes the symbiotic relationship between fish and plants, also known as Aquaponics. This concept has been used on a commercial level for quite some time now. The fish provide nutrients that the garden needs to thrive and in return the garden filters the water for the fish. This design makes it possible for those of us without a surplus of square-footage, to still have the unique pleasure of cooking with fresh ingredients in the kitchen.

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INSPIRATION & BRAINSTORMING

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MODULARBIRDHOUSE COLONY

OVERVIEW

CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

The world’s population is growing at an exponential rate and our cities are constantly expanding. This urban sprawl is happening so quickly that people are forgetting about the natural world around them. The city soundscape is comprised of freeways, sirens, ringtones, barking, and car alarms, just to name a few. The goal of this project is to invite the natural world to come back and dwell with us once again.

Design a home for birds that appeals to both birds and people. The design is to be as simple as possible, while still retaining full utility.

Biomimicry is a conscious emulation of nature’s genius. The hexagonal design of each house was inspired by the bee’s honeycomb. This shape has incredible structural strength and provides generous nesting space for our feathered friends. This design also lends itself to personalized custom shaped colonies. These dwellings can be hung from a tree, attached to a wall, or even stacked on a fence.

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INSPIRATION & BRAINSTORMING

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TRAVELING SCREEN

OVERVIEW

CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

A cooling water filtration system redesign for the Saint Johns River Power Park (SJRPP) developed during Senior Design I & II. The previous system was inefficient and unsafe. It filtered debris by means of a static screen that had to be removed by crane and picked clean by maintenance staff.

Redesign the cooling water filtration system on the suction side of the main circulation pumps for SJRPP. This redesign is to address the shortfalls of the current system like the gaps in protection during cleaning. The new design is to fit within the existing system housing and is not to impede pump function in any way.

In concert with engineers at SJRPP, we decided upon a conveyor-like traveling screen system. The redesign addressed all the challenges facing the previous system. The traveling screen design does not need to be removed from the cooling water basin to be cleaned. This allows the system to provide continuous protection to the main cooling water circulation pumps. In order to cause as little impact on flow conditions as possible, the new design borrows the same screening material as before. Designing around previous housing, the frame of the new traveling screen system was designed to slide along the existing screen tracks left from the previous system.

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PREVIOUS SYSTEM

The previous debris removal system was comprised of two sets of screens perpendicular to the flow of each pump. Each set of screens consisted of a fiberglass frame which seated twelve stainless steal screens. These screens prevented admittance of any foreign material larger than an eighth of an inch in diameter. This debris could severely damage the pump impeller or create even worse issues downstream in the condenser tubes.

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REDESIGN SOLUTION

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FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS

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COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

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DIVERTER CHUTE

OVERVIEW

CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

Design a diverter chute for a non-ferrous scrap metal bisquitter.

Working with limited dimensional information, design a diverter chute that will attach to the hopper of a non-ferrous metal bisquitter. This chute will need to divert the flow of material on command.

A pneumatically driven diverter chute that fit like a glove.

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EASY-PACKSLEEPING BAG

OVERVIEW

CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

A collaborative effort between a fellow designer and myself to improve the worst part of camping - packing up the sleeping bag when it’s time to go.

Ease the frustration of packing up a sleeping bag without adding significant weight or complication.

Attach the compression sack to the bottom of the sleeping bag as a permanent fixture. The hardest part of packing the sleeping bag is already inside the compression sack. As an added bonus, the compression sack is made of a waterproof material that will vent air out during compression, but not let water in while camping. Having this waterproof shield on the bottom of the sleeping bag keeps your feet dry when the tent wall gets dewy. This one-way venting fabric is sensitive to abrasion. In order to protect it, a lightweight nylon armor wraps around the outside of the compressed sack.

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Wake up. Lay sleeping bag out flat. Stuff sleeping bag into bottom sack until the sleeping bag is completely inside.

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

Fold the roll-top over itself three times and then fasten the buckle.

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STEP 4 STEP 5

Pull the protective nylon shield all the way around the sack.

Fasten both of the adjoining buckles.

STEP 6

Pull both buckle straps tight and get back to enjoying the outdoors.

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CAD MODELING

OVERVIEW

CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

A personal test of my own Solidworks® knowledge.

I challenged myself to create CAD models of items from the world arond me using only a digital caliper and measuring tape.

The following are the fruits of my labor.

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I have wanted to be an inventor as far back as I can remember. This natural curiosity used to get me into a fair amount of trouble from time to time, but for the most part this interest always kept me inspired to learn something new. As a kid, my family lived in the woods quite far out of town. The neighborhood kids consisted of my dog and little sister; so I spent the time a normal boy would with his friends, off in my father’s shed. I would spend hours building, mixing, and disassembling things. It wasn’t until after Physics I & II in college that I realized that the rabbit hole goes much, much deeper than I had ever imagined. Ever since then I have been hooked on understanding the mechanics of the world around me, from collecting Hubble telescope images of far away galaxies and star clusters to experimenting with different gardening techniques. I am eternally curious and forever a student of the world.

© 2013 | MATTHEW STEIGER

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