As part of the innovation workshop for the Master of Science in Engineering Prospective Design, students built use-case scenarios based on the new material “ALGIMEL”, a bio-based and biodegradable rigid foam developed by two lecturer-researchers at IMT Mines d’Alès.
“Diversity of forming and assembly methods”: ALGIMEL, the bio-based and biodegradable rigid polymer foam obtained from brown algae, was developed by Eric Guibal and Thierry Vincent, lecturer-researchers at IMT Mines d’Alès.
Learn more about this project
This new material left the Alès Materials Laboratory for the Mines Saint-Étienne prototyping space for a week of handling, processing and cutting as part of an innovation workshop led by Jean-François Bassereau and Jenny Faucheu, SMS Center.
“Raw Algimel” Prototyping child’s play for model-making Bicycle helmet The molding process Fish crate Aroma box! Funeral urn Winter protection fleece Lighting fixture Lighting fixture Food transport
Collaborative work and outstanding results
Nearly 40 students from the Master of Science in Engineering Prospective Design (Mines Saint-Étienne/UJM/ESADSE), including two ICM students, worked with this new material for three days in the FabLab (with support from Hubert Taxil, FabLab manager at the Saint-Étienne campus) to build use-case scenarios.
Staff and students were able to discover the various concepts developed at the end of the week in the presence of ALGIMEL’s inventors: a biodegradable funeral urn, two lighting fixtures, an aroma box, a children’s game, a crate for transporting fish, an eco-designed bicycle helmet, a winter protection fleece filled with nutrients, and a molding process (lost-wax process).