This year’s Jam Week at Shenkar has concluded with the traditional Jam Week award ceremony. At the ceremony, President of Shenkar professor Sheizaf Rafaeli congratulated the winners for their accomplishments. Among the 750 students who competed, the winning team has five members, each from a different department. The prize, courtesy of Intel, is a personal 3D printer for each team member. The winners are Bader Daka (Software Engineering), Anaeh Otilia Jorgai (Interior Building & Environment Design), Tamir Gal (Industrial Engineering and Management), Levi Ofir (Fashion Design), and Polina Malyadskaya (Polymer Materials Engineering).

The judges were particularly impressed with the interdisciplinary collaboration that led to an innovative physical solution. Engineering and design aspects are both evident in the end result.

The winning project, Care Cush, is a cozy neck support pillow with an antibacterial coating and four built-in wireless speakers that connect to a sound system. The sound system connects to an app that allows users to play custom content, giving carers and parents complete control over the child’s content diet. Working with Reut Medical Center, the students aimed to strengthen each child’s identity with personalized content that addresses their difficulties.

Jam Week is an interdisciplinary hackathon-like event that brings together design, engineering, and art students and lecturers for four days of unbridled creativity. Led by Dr. Meira Levi, Idit Barak, and Assaf Krebs, the event is a collaboration between academia, industry, and third-sector organizations. This year’s Jam Week had several goals, including using innovative engineering and design to find technological solutions to loneliness; learning and developing interdisciplinary skills while using design-thinking methodologies; solving complex engineering problems; and practicing international professional networking.

At the top of the page: the winning team with professor Sheizaf Rafaeli (right) and Dr. Assaf Krebs, Jam Week co-director and Shenkar Design Factory co-director