Umeå Institute of Design tops Red Dot ranking for ninth straight year

Umeå Institute of Design (UID) at Umeå University has once again secured top spot on the Red Dot Design Ranking. This achievement marks nine consecutive years that UID has led the rankings, underscoring the school’s leading position in design education on the international stage.

The Red Dot Design Ranking tracks and measures the success of an organisation in producing exciting new design concepts. Universities are exclusively evaluated based on the merit of design projects executed by their students. This year, UID’s winning student projects highlight a diverse range of innovative designs – from smart police body cams to a training kit for people suffering from cystic fibrosis to the next generation of products in maritime cargo security.

“Achieving the top position once again highlights the exceptional accomplishments of our students and the quality of our teaching team supporting them,” says Demian Horst, Head of Umeå Institute of Design. “We are incredibly fortunate to cultivate such a diverse and talented group. Our goal remains to educate designers who are responsible, highly skilled and ready to tackle future challenges."

The smart body camera for tomorrow’s law enforcement

One of the winning projects from Umeå is C3-ID, a groundbreaking body camera designed to enhance roadside police interventions, created by Gerado Soler and Ellis Walker. In typical traffic stops, officers manage multiple tools and tasks, from checking licenses to assisting injured individuals, often leading to stress and mistakes. The C3-ID addresses these challenges with its four main features: 3D scanning, distance measuring, ID verification, as well as video and audio capturing. This easy-to-use, yet advanced tool, allows officers to focus on the people they serve rather than their equipment.

“Juggling numerous tools, coupled with the perpetual stress of their environments, presents a significant challenge for officers in maintaining focus and effectively managing situations. In conversations with police officers during our research phase, we realised that we needed to design a product that helps officers and civilians communicate in a safe and open way”, says Gerardo Soler.

Empowering youth with respiratory illness

Inspired by the opportunity to make positive change, Red Dot winning student Yuchen Lan designed a motivational training kit for young people suffering from cystic fibrosis. By targeting patients during young adulthood, when they normally start to manage treatments themselves, she is hoping to get patients motivated about their daily treatment.

”Cystic fibrosis is a rare disease where patients are diagnosed from birth. The people suffering from it have a shortened life span, and their daily needs revolve around essential treatments for maintaining lung function. I chose this topic because I hope I can make their lives a little more colourful”, says Yuchen Lan.

Yuchen’s final concept, Moii, is a progressive “Airway Clearance Therapy” training kit, training adolescents to complete their home therapy more effectively, and gradually freeing them from cumbersome equipment. The kit comprises three key components: modular breathing devices for airflow detection, a chest mobility wearable, and an intuitive mobile application.

A game-changer for safe and efficient maritime cargo operations

FLIR-TS, a project by students Niklas Andreasen, Ellis Walker and Silvester Kössler, won the prestigious “Best of the Best” award at the Red Dot ceremony. Their innovative clamping device addresses a critical issue in the maritime cargo industry: the lack of real-time feedback on container lashings. Improper lashing can lead to accidents and losses, posing severe safety and environmental threats. FLIR-TS enhances maritime cargo security by providing real-time tension monitoring, offering timely warnings of loosening through LED indicators and remote feedback.

“By turning this previously invisible aspect of cargo safety into precise, reliable, and actionable real-time data, we want to enhance maritime safety, reducing the risk of pollution from lost cargo and damaged vessels, as well as promoting responsible and resource-saving shipping practices.”, says Silvester Kössler.

In an effort to bring the product to market, the three young designers now hope to team up with specialists to build a functional prototype from cast steel and test its operations under laboratory conditions.

Fact sheet: ABOUT Red Dot Ranking

The Red Dot Design Ranking for Design Concept is a reflection of sustainable design and innovation capability of an organisation. It recognises six honorary lists for Companies, Design Studios and Universities, in the Americas & Europe and Asia Pacific regions. The ranking is based on the results of the Red Dot Award: Design Concept. It takes into account all levels of awards at the Red Dot Award for Design Concept over the past five years.

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology maintained its #1 position at the list for Universities in Asia Pacific, with Massey University retaining the second spot. Zhejiang University of Technology, China, moves up the rank into the third position. In the list for Universities in Americas & Europe, Umeå Institute of Design and Savannah College of Art and Design maintained their first and second position while Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Hungary climed into third position.

Read more about education at Umeå Institute of Design

For more information, please contact:

Jens Persson, communications officer, Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå University
Phone: +46907865063, +46736263551
Email: jens.persson@umu.se