He did it again...

Here is Coll's latest claim to fame. This was printed in the Sunday morning newspaper yesterday. Here's the online version;

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/120644

I giggle every time I look at the article or even think about it, it's just so neat to me that he's my husband and he's so amazing. I scored.

Here's the article but I'd follow the link, it seems more real:

ASU student applies design idea to kids' bath time

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Mandy Zajac, Tribune

Collin Smith grew up in Mesa doing a lot of hands-on art and craft projects. In a family with nine children, he says, such diversions were a necessity. "I grew up in a house where we had to have little projects and crafts and things to keep us busy, or Mom would go crazy," he jokes.

It's not a stretch, then, to see why the 25-year-old ASU student has grown up with an itch to make fun, useful products for children and their parents. Smith's latest idea, a device called BathDam, recently earned an honorable mention in a nationwide housewares design contest.

"It's unique for a children's bath toy because it does four things: It offers play value for the kid to play in the water; it protects the child, particularly from the faucet and a large amount of water; it helps clean the child through the toys that are built into it; and it conserves water because the entire bathtub doesn't need to be filled with water," says Vicki Matranga, design program coordinator for the International Housewares Association, the Chicago-based group that sponsors the annual IHA Student Design Competition.

Made of injection-molded foam and dyed plastics, BathDam is designed to let parents partition off the back section of the tub, keeping kids ages 1 to 3 years old away from the spigot, where bumps to the head and burns from twisting the hot-water knob are more likely to occur.

A number of tub-shortening products currently on the market do the same thing, but Smith's design features a rubber hose that brings water from the faucet to a confined, watertight bathing space. An assortment of bathing toys spanning the dam's bridge encourage children to help clean themselves.

"It's not something you can walk away from and leave your child there," cautions Smith. "You should never do that when bathing a child. But BathDam is designed so you have a more restricted space where you can control the child slipping a little better."

Smith, a junior in ASU's College of Design, says he came up with the idea after polling his siblings, who are now parents, and testing ideas on his nieces and nephews. Concepts that didn't make the cut included a roll-out mattress attached to a wall and a combination urinal-toilet.

More than 200 students submitted entries to the IHA contest, and 19 prizes were awarded.

Although the judges commended Smith's idea, don't look for BathDam in stores immediately. Smith is in the process of seeking a patent on the idea, with hopes of manufacturing it and selling it later.

"Many professors and students tell us that this is the hardest competition out there. It's the gold standard. And for the winners, their entry really can become a key portfolio piece," says Matranga.

For his trouble, Smith received handwritten feedback directly from the contest's judges, as well as a cash prize. The feedback could prove invaluable in pushing ahead with BathDam's mass-marketing future. As for the prize - well, Smith is a student, after all: He used the money to pay bills.

Smith works for a Chandler firm that designs gear for children and parents.

ASU students have placed eight times and garnered 15 honorable mentions in the IHA competition since 1994.

Related

WINNING DESIGN: Smith's rudimentary incarnation of the BathDam was made of a Barbie bathtub, a piece of cardboard and a string. The ASU student's eventual design for the product, which is both a toy and a tool for children's bath time, earned honorable mention and a cash prize in an international housewares design contest.

WINNING DESIGN: Smith's rudimentary incarnation of the BathDam was made of a Barbie bathtub, a piece of cardboard and a string. The ASU student's eventual design for the product, which is both a toy and a tool for children's bath time, earned