Alexander Baldwin

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University of Nottingham > Engineering > Departments > Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering > PDM Exhibitions > 2024 > BEng students > Alexander Baldwin

Minimising the number of different canisters and substances you need to keep around to use against different fires.

For a long time I have always loved anything which allowed me to be creative and to really express ideas I come up with, which would usually considered wild or unrealistic and be able to forge it into a functioning, aesthetically pleasing final product through vigorous development.

From the beginning of the design process, letting my mind run wild and just sketch down any random idea I have in my head, to the developing phase, taking each problem or slight nitpick of my product and working out my own route to the solution, whether that is through my own considerations or through collaboration, to the CAD phase which is very satisfying as I watch my sketches become a 3D model (assuming my laptop can handle it at the time) and finally the rendering phase which allows you to finally see your product come to life, I love all parts of the process.

The main areas that I enjoy are the initial concept phase and the rendering. My sketching skills acquired over the last few years has really helped me to take an idea and put it down onto a sheet so easily and clearly. While although initial difficulty, I have finally found an understanding of rendering with keyshot, understanding how to use lighting and material effects to create clear and appealing renders of my product, whether that is a single image or an intricate animation of the product.

Design consultancy would be the ideal career for me, with a focus on interior or exterior household products with a day-to-day function as I believe that this is where my creativity is able to thrive as I look for ways to innovate new products or improve the functionality of already existing products, improving peoples’ lives one small step at a time.

Alexander Baldwin, BEng Product Design and Manufacture

Flextinguish

The aim for my project was to try to improve fire safety, and the main route I went down to achieve this was to try and minimise the number of different canisters and substances you need to keep around to use against different fires as this can be time consuming having to work out and find the right one, but also takes up a lot of space which in itself can act as a hazard.

To achieve this goal, I looked into a way in which I could consolidate all of the different substances and attachments into a single, simple to understand product, using quick and easy fittings to switch between them at will. The product can hold four standard 90mm diameter canisters and can be configured by the user to hold the substances which are more likely to be needed in the environment the product is being stored in.

The product is made from grade 500 aluminium and heat resistant ABS, with almost all parts being joined together with simple joining methods such as nuts, bolts and screws as well as built in threads. This makes the product fit for disassembly which is ideal for repair or recycling at the end of the product’s life cycle.

Front view of Flextinguish on wooden decking with a forest backdrop

There were some major issues which I had to work around throughout my project, whether that was the overall weight or size of the product, the risk of substances mixing, or making the switching of substances and attachments quick and easy to any user. However, through my design process, I was able to minimise the impact of these issues to make sure that the final product would be as useful and efficient as possible.

The product can be adjusted to use water, CO2, powder, foam and wet chemicals, with nozzles adapted to match each of them as they all have their own way in which they should be projected out. And for situations where a longer tube is needed, an extendable tube can be attached.

The final product has a sleek design, standing out aesthetically from other fire extinguishers while still being a familiar shape and including helpful and clear labelling to make sure that it is easy to identify. The mechanisms are easy to understand and allow for quick transitions between substances.