What would you do during a blackout? Students in Industrial Design 341 in the School of Art & Design were given the task of designing a counter top appliance to assist individuals and families in coping with extended power outages. They were instructed to meet basic needs with a means of purifying a daily water supply for drinking and cooking, a method of heating food and beverages, a light source, and a way of receiving broadcast emergency information, says Associate Professor Shaun Jackson. The class was inspired by Professor William Lovejoy's Integrated Product Development class in the Business School, Jackson says. Here, students display their inventions at a trade fair Dec. 9 in the connector between the James and Anne Duderstadt Center (formerly the Media Union) and Pierpont Commons, at which visitors voted on their favorite designs. Michael Richey, a member of the Troika design team (right), explains the water purification component to John Lehning, a graduate student in nuclear engineering. The creation in the foreground allows the user to light a Sterno can and heat food in standard-sized pots and pans. (Photo by Marcia Ledford, U-M Photo Services)

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