Winners Of The Annual International Design Awards Announced

CHICAGO - Aug. 5, 2014 - PRLog -- Aug 5, 2014

LOS ANGELES, Aug 5 2014 Los Angeles, Montgomery Design International (MDI) of suburban Chicago, USA was awarded: First Prize, Gold Award in the Transportation Design Category of the International Design Awards competition for their manned Mars Expedition Rover Project. This is the second such award granted to MDI for the design of the manned Mars Expedition Rover.

This annual competition recognizes, honors and promotes legendary design visionaries and discovers emerging talent in Architecture, Interior, Fashion, Graphic, and Product Design on global level. The IDA honorary jury included luminaries from architecture, the design world, science, and design publishing houses.

The IDA jury examined over 1000 entries submitted by architects and designers from 52 countries throughout the world. After final decisions had been made, the jury rewarded the best professional and emerging designers for their achievements in terms of design, creativity, usability and innovation. Judging was a rigorous process, with winners receiving publication of their work in the International Design Awards Book of Designs. The coveted IDA Trophies will be awarded to all Designer of the Year title winners at the official biennial International Design Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The Mars Expedition Rover (MER) -  NASA has plans for a manned visit to Mars in the 2037 time frame and as a part of that mission, will require a vehicle capable of sustaining four passengers up to as long as three weeks. The design takes into consideration an incredible number of constraints required to survive in this hostile environment and then basically doubles the requirement for redundancy. The basic motive power for the MER is electric, but due to the requirement for continuous, reliable energy, a removable on board Dynamic Isotope System is required, This will be augmented by roof mounted solar panels. Which will be sufficient for shorter trips, and again redundancy. The MER is driven by electric motors in each of its six wheels, and both sets of front and rear wheels are steerable. The tires tread band are constructed of a nano-carbon composite and a Solimide foam core. The tire and wheel geometry is set to a 5° camber to improve handling on slopes and sandy soil. The MER is to be shipped in a knocked down state and will be assembled once on site. All materials have been chosen for light weight and strength. The main exterior body panels are made of a ceramic foam composite originally developed for the Space Shuttle for its thermal capabilities and repairability. Features of the design include an electric winch and manipulator arms at the front of the vehicle, an airlock for EVA, a fixed control deck, and interchangeable work modules depending on the each individual mission. These can include a crew module, a lab/shop module and a crane module. The MER can also be fitted with a dozer blade for clearing areas around the base station and creating roadways.

About Montgomery Design International:

Montgomery Design International is a full service product design and development firm located in Chicago’s suburban Westmont, Illinois / USA. Founded in 1983, MDI has arguably become the most prolific consulting design firm in the world focusing on the industrial design and styling of agricultural and construction equipment. MDI has worked for the IH and CaseIH companies since its inception, and for Caterpillar and AGCO for over 15 years. Key product lines credited to MDI include the complete line of CaseIH MAGNUM tractors (two of which won prestigious international design awards), the entire NewHolland line of “cats eye” tractors which won numerous european awards, and the AGCO Challenger 900 series 4WD tractor - another design award winner and the world’s largest tractor at the time it was introduced. MDI has produced numerous other vehicle designs and concepts for large international firms such as Caterpillar, McCormick, Yanmar, JOY Global, Lovol Heavy Industries of China and TAFE ltd. of India.  In addition to the heavy equipment vehicle work, MDI provides services to many diverse industries including; medical devices, gaming, major appliances, toys, lighting and hand-held communication devices.

About IDA:

A handful of the worlds top designers, thinkers and entrepreneurs created the International Design Awards in 2007 as a response to the lack of recognition and celebration for intelligent and sustainable multidisciplinary design. The International Design Awards (IDA) exists to recognize and celebrate legendary design and designers. The awards aspire to draw attention to the iconoclasm of design world wide in conceptualizing and producing great works.

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