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Groovystuff Expands Education Outreach to Thailand
May 30,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on May 31, 2012
Reclaimed teak furniture vendor Groovystuff has taken its By Design: Connecting Education to Industry and "Design Challenge" international.
Dallas-based Groovystuff announced that Thailands King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) will provide the next class of undergraduates to participate in the Groovystuff Design Challenge. The newly expanded international cooperative offers foreign market exposure and permanent royalties to the students participating, and introduces retailers carrying the Groovystuff line to the cutting edge design trends happening in Asia.
KMITL is the ninth university to collaborate with Groovystuff since the cooperative's inception in 2010. Other design program participants include Appalachian State University, The Art Institute of Las Vegas, Auburn University, University of Georgia, University of North Carolina, University of Idaho, and Purdue University.
Founded in 1960, KMITL is known as the top ranking engineering institute in Thailand. Its School of Architecture and Design has a philosophy of producing graduates with a well-grounded knowledge in design and the capability of blending art and technology with environmental concerns, making them ideal candidates to work with the sustainable and reclaimed materials found in the Groovystuff line of furniture, lighting, and home decor.
Under the leadership of Professor Torvong Puipanthavong, 22 industrial design students from the Faculty of Architecture will get first-hand exposure to the U.S. residential home furnishings market this summer by designing a product competitive enough to be included in the exclusive and celebrity endorsed Dick Idol Gallery of home furnishings.
The class of undergraduates received a pallet of reclaimed materials from Groovystuff this past week and are tasked with researching the ergo-dynamic considerations of the U.S. consumer and conclude with a 20-by-30-inch Final Product Board, a one-quarter Scale Miniature Model, and a product pedestal that will be voted on by trade show participants at the High Point Market this Fall. The winner of the Popular Vote at Market will receive a cash prize. The products will then move into the production stage for release in the U.S. market, and the student design with the Most in Written Orders will ultimately be the product design inducted into the Dick Idol Gallery.
This new cooperative with the industrial design students in Thailand offers dealers carrying the Groovystuff line a whole new round of products designed from an entirely new perspective, untarnished by the pressures of US trends and product saturation, said Groovystuff CEO Chris Bruning. "He goes on to add, Professor Tor is helping us get our message of sustainability out to a more global audience, and his instructional platform is based on energy conservation, quality of life, and the responsible use of resources when teaching design and we couldnt be more pleased by our partnership with him and the students.