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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

: This design is based on the strength and light weight of a spiderweb. This allows for a durable and light weight design.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

: The goal was to make a high end long board which could take high impact and deliver outstanding acceleration and agility.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

: The future of this design is undecided.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

: We worked on different ideas for several months trying to combine different traits into this project.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

: This design was pursued based on inspiration and the idea of having a better long board for the competitive and recreational skating community.

DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

: Currently I am hoping to sell or lease the production rights.

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

: I am an avid long boarder, and wanted to improve some of the problems we found in traditional boards.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

: No other designers influenced my work.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

: This design could be bought by anyone from amateurs looking for a lasting board to professionals wanting light weight durable designs.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

: It takes the idea of a solid carbon fiber racing long board and makes it lighter, it also can be carried more easily and it's turn radius is not limited by a solid deck.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

: It is a deck for a long board, but it has open spaces which reduce the weight. The light weight, perforated design lead to the name, "Air Deck."

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

: I used Autodesk Inventor Pro to design this project.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

: The most unique aspect is definitely the webbed carbon fiber construction.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

: I worked mainly with my team mate Parker Krueger, but I also got some guidance in modeling from my instructor Frank Rodgers.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

: Technology will be key in constructing the Air Deck, but it also helped turn an idea from nature into a new innovation.

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

: I used no specific analytical data, but it was influenced by the light weight and high strength of a spider web.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

: As a young designer I had very limited resources to create this design and I am not an expert in the software I used to develop this project.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

: I wanted to get my ideas out into the world and start on a career in engineering and design.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

: I learned more about the software I was using, and I got better at problem solving and tweaking designs to fix minor or major problems.

DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

: I am interested in learning more about product designing and engineering. I think this competition was very educational even though I am only 17 years old.