Tuli Success Stories
Charge wirelessly with the office desk of the future
An acquiantance of Maija Itkonen happened to curse the cable jungle of several different chargers at just the right moment. As it happened, Itkonen, a graduated industrial designer, was searching for an innovative idea for her studies. Inspired by her friend’s frustration, she started to develop a concept of furniture on top of which mobile phones and computers could be charged.
“The aim is to include charging in the user’s daily routines and environment. The charging module is placed inside or under the table or other furniture, and the electronic device is charged via an adapter. When the device is charged or removed from the charging area, the currency is cut off. “Nowadays the chargers tend to be left connected to the wall even when they’re not in use, thus consuming energy continuosly”, Itkonen explains.
The table, named Powerkiss, has already been made into several prototypes, and negotiations with furniture companies are on their way. Itkonen has received support for her project from the TULI program; the TULI funding enabled marketing researches and a survey for patenting possibilities.
TULI – sparking an idea into life
When typing down the interview with Maija Itkonen, one notices to be using more exclamation marks than usual. Her enthuasism is contagious. The spark was ignited by the Tekes’ TULI program, whose representative Tuomas Mannola took the project under his wings.
“I took my idea to an innovation expert, and he told me about TULI. Tuomas took a firm grip of my project and found a suitable consultant with the right know-how for commercializing Powerkiss. The consultant was of great help in eg. providing me with advice on how to proceed with the negotions with furniture makers”, Itkonen explains.
Itkonen currently works at Design Factory, a project situated in Otaniemi, Espoo, Finland. The project brings together companies, designers and students, all under the same roof. The innovative premises encourage different parties to exchange ideas and participate in projects across boundaries.
“I wish that people could participate in the TULI program even at an earlier phase than what was possible for me. A great opportunity to make TULI known at the Design Factory would be when the innovations are at an early concept phase. That is the time when the most help is needed to take the concepts further. The problem in general is that young inventors and designers simply do not know how to proceed in developing an initial spark into a healthy fire.
Half engineer, half artist
The technology that Powerkiss applies – induction – has existed for a long time. A typical example of applying induction is eg. an electric tootbrush. Not everyone with a degree from the University of Art and Design might have thought that an electrical innovation could be applied in reducing factors that set limits on furniture design. Itkonen is no electrical engineer, however:
“I’m blissfully unaware of these kinds of things, even though I might have been the most engineer-like in the University of Art and Design artist crowd and the most artistic in my group at the Helsinki University of Technology”, Itkonen laughs.
The young lady stands out from the engineer crowd just by being herself. She hasn’t suffered from any credibility problems:
“A woman designer tends to look good among a group of engineers,” she smiles.
“The Design Factory has a wonderful, encouraging atmosphere. The only way to fail is to not accept the help that is offered. People have enthusiasm and fresh ideas. When those are combined with the experience and networks that the TULI experts possess, genuine success stories are bound to happen.”
