Project Overview

The Edu-Spark is an educational kit with a difference. Based around the award-winning Spark clean-energy generating musical instrument, the Edu-Spark kit provides a way for young people to learn about STEAM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Maths ) whilst providing a real world solution to real world problems.

To give some background, the Spark clean energy-generating instrument was developed to help solve the problem of light poverty for the 1.7 billion people living in off-grid areas in the world. By learning to build Spark by way of the Edu-Spark kit, young people throughout the world will have a holistic tool helping to create bright ideas for future bright sparks.

Organisation

Shake Your Power & Dish Creative

Team

Sudha Kheterpal - Founder

Best known for her work as Percussionist with electronic music band Faithless, The Spice Girls and Dido, Sudha founded the 'Shake Your Power' Social Enterprise in July 2014, after running a successful Kickstarter campaign based around the Spark clean energy-generating musical shaker she developed.


Diana Simpson Hernandez-Product Designer

Diana graduated form the Royal College of Art in 2013 with an MA in Design Products. Since then, she has been part of the Shake Your Power initiative. Her work focuses on creating sustainable solutions and empowering communities.

Project Brief

If we were to develop a brief to create an Ed-tech hardware product so that students feel like they can all do something to make a difference; to feel positive, empowered, inspired, to feel the joy of learning, to play, to contribute, to encourage STEM learning, to express their love of music AND to be mindful of renewable energy, it would have taken quite some time!

The pre-built Spark product already encompasses all of this and more, and with this in mind the brief for Edu-Spark was to create a simplified version of Spark so that the user could assemble their own. Rather than using a flat-packed version, we have created a modular system rather like Lego, so through assembling simple building blocks the user can learn about complex interactions.

We have also added two extra modules, a 'connect' and 'brain' module, making the product both connected and programmable. Once the user has built their own Spark, they can hack to their heart's content and create a whole array of different products.

Project Innovation/Need

Right now we are at a point where the Ed-tech world is becoming somewhat saturated with products. So the question arises, why make one?

Our product of course relates to schools in the developing world and with the core of this project being about social good, wellness and innovation, we also realised the need in the Western world to educate students on real world issues. If you are learning about Product Design or Engineering, why are you making that product? What and who is it for? What difference is it going to make?

There are currently no other educational kits on the market that are people-driven and addressing these issues.

We also wanted to work with the end user from the outset - so rather than create an Ed-tech product, test it in schools and take it to market, we decided to start with the end user, going in to pilot at schools whilst developing our proof of concept, getting user feedback on size, shape as well as lesson plans from teachers.

We believe no-one has taken this approach; an educational kit by the children for the children.

Design Challenge

Whilst developing a tech product it's easy to get lost in the technology. To a certain extent we have had to do this, but our USP is music and the challenge has been remembering this and staying true to the original Spark product.

Another challenge has been to try and connect the user to the things that have inspired us through biomimicry. So shapes and colours have been crucial. Our original design was inspired by geometrical shapes in nature - honeycomb, for example. When doing our market research, we soon realised that there are a few music-related products that use this hexagon shape and so we have subsequently had to reconsider our direction.

Sustainability

Having produced a sustainable product by way of Spark itself, we have had to ensure that all materials are recyclable where possible.

We currently have a collaboration with Ultimaker 3D printers and will be providing CAD files with our kits so that the cases can be produced within schools themselves.

We will be encouraging schools to use recycled ABS.