Electrolux Design Lab 2011 competition announced its winner—Adrian Mankovecký from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava in Slovakia. His Portable Spot Cleaner became a leading entry among 1,300 entries from over 50 countries. 

Photo: Electrolux

Mankovecký’s innovation was selected from eight finalists’ works. The final ceremony took place at the Room Home Intelligence Conference London on September 7.

The Portable Spot Cleaner allows users to remove stains from clothes on the go. It has two components, which should be separated, placed on either side of the garment. Then the user chooses the suitable cleaning program and waits for a couple of minutes while negative Ions and steam refresh clothing and remove stains. The cleaner is powered with a sugar crystal battery.

The jury was impressed by the device. From the jury motivation: «The Portable spot cleaner is built on a very solid consumer insight and it is highly relevant. It is an instant laundry device that has a positive impact on the environment by reducing consumption. Its usage and interaction are very intuitive. We all want one.»

Second place award went to Ribbon, an all-in-one hotplate, warming device and cooler for portable use, by Enzo Kocak from Monash University in Australia. The third award received Smoobo Blender, a fun way of making smoothies, by Roseanne de Bruin from Massey University in New Zealand.

People’s Choice Award—as voted for online got Onda, a portable microwave oven, by Matthew Schwartz from California State University Long Beach in USA, received the.

The competition launched in 2003 runs every year and has a particular theme. This year’s theme was ‘Intelligent Mobility’. The students were encouraged to create home appliances for how people prepare food, clean and do other domestic work both within and beyond the home using the idea of mobility to liberate people from the home routine. All concepts should have kept the Scandinavian Design values in mind—being sensitive to the environment, providing intuitive ease of use and be aesthetical.

The Electrolux Design Lab 2011 award was a prize of EUR 5,000 and a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design center. Second prize was EUR 3,000 and third prize EUR 2,000.

Photo: Electrolux