FIRA Ergonomics Expert called to judge Kinnarps student competition

FIRA ergonomics specialist Levent Caglar recently shared his ergonomics expertise with students by judging a Kinnarps Workplace Furniture design competition.

The competition, hosted by Kinnarps, was held as part of the WCFM Manchester Student Tour 2011, with the theme ‘homeworker furniture’. Thirty two furniture design students from 14 educational centres across the UK entered the competition.

A part of the competition the students examined Kinnarps products and then presented their initial ‘homeworker’ furniture ideas to their peers and the judges.

The judging panel consisted of Levent Cagler, Senior Consultant Ergonomist and Head of the FIRA Ergonomics Unit, Marc Bird, Head of Marketing, Kinnarps, Thomas White, Senior Creative Designer, Kinnarps and Colin Morrell from the student training committee.

The overall winning design was a ‘winged table’ by Ben Croft, from Oxford and Cherwell Valley College. Ben’s prize will be a visit to the Kinnarps Factory in Kinnarp, Sweden with Alex Gifford, Head of Design Kinnarps UK and the Product Development Team for Kinnarps AB.

Speaking on Ben’s design, Levent said, “Ben’s winged table idea showed he had considered physiology and psychology in his design as well as conceiving a product that would be comfortable, safe and efficient for people to use. These are all elements which contribute to an ergonomically sound product.”

Levent Caglar said, “It was an honour to be asked to join the panel of judges for the Kinnarps competition and a great opportunity to meet so many talented young furniture designers. There were some really innovative and well thought-out ideas presented as part of the competition which made choosing a single winner a difficult decision to make. It was great that FIRA, as a furniture industry leader, were able to take part in the event. We are very happy to support and develop the furniture industry by working with young designers.”

Levent and his team at FIRA apply their knowledge of subjects such as engineering, anatomy, physiology, psychology and design to ensure that products and environments are comfortable, safe and efficient for people to use. They not only use this expertise to assist with product and work place design but also work to resolve problems associated with health and safety orders audits, furniture specifications, product assessment and much more.

For more details of FIRA or if you would like to know more about how FIRA ergonomics assists your business through testing and consultancy, please contact Levent Caglar on 01438 777700 or email info@fira.co.uk.