New design makes a safer ride

An eco-friendly vehicle design based on the kangaroo has won Art and Design student Mr Dimitrios Scoutas the national Dyson Product award and $10,000 in prize money.

Mr Scoutas, an industrial design honours student at Caulfield campus, received the award during the New Design 2001 national graduate exhibition sponsored by Dyson Appliances.

The exhibition showcases new talent in applied art and design selected from universities across Australia.

Mr Scoutas (pictured) said his winning design, named Skipee, was a three-wheeled vehicle designed to appeal to people who would normally not ride a motorcycle.

The bike's stylised body is modelled on the kangaroo, Australia's best-known icon, and geared towards people living in the inner suburbs of Australia's main cities.

"While my design has some of the characteristics of a motorcycle, it also has quite a few variations. For example, in order to improve stability, the vehicle has three wheels, with two wheels at the front to help with cornering," Mr Scoutas said.

"I also looked at research into accidents involving motorcycles and discovered that in most cases the accidents were caused because the drivers didn't see the motorcycle.

"To counteract this danger, each of the front wheels has a headlight, so at night it looks like a small car to other drivers."

He said the vehicle was designed as an environmentally friendly alternative using mostly recyclable materials and running on an electric engine housed in the rear wheel.

Mr Scoutas, who hopes to graduate at the end of this year, will use the award money to visit Italy and Germany, world centres of motorcycle design.