UCI Innovator Awards Trophy

The UCI Innovator Awards is an annual event, created by UCI Beall Applied Innovation and hosted at the Cove @ UCI, to recognize UCI researchers who are working actively to promote commercialization of university research. This, in turn, supports regional economic development and furthers UCI’s mission to advance breakthrough discoveries that benefit humankind.

For this event, our design team created four trophies to honor great innovators.The trophy creation was a great example of interdisciplinary collaboration. We found it beneficial to pull together the artistic ideas of our designers, the analytical mind of an engineer and the careful execution of great craftsmen. By bringing together people who each approach the same challenge differently, we were able to make an end product that was different ... innovative.The design was inspired by the event logo, which symbolizes the path of innovation told through the shape of a growing wave, a theme relevant to the beach décor at the Cove, Applied Innovation’s headquarters.Our team used a laser printer to cut and etch acrylic pieces of varying hues to get the effect of transformation. The white oak base ties in a beach feel and the darker, burned wood gives a texture contrast with the wave. The weight of the trophy makes it feel substantial, while still easy to carry with one hand.

Once the design was created, our designer worked closely with our on-site lab technicians to create prototypes of the trophies. They then partnered with Studio Las Nubes to have the four final trophies developed. The trophies raised the Innovator Award event to the next level. The winners were delighted, and many proudly displayed the trophies on social media. The trophies, along with the inaugural event, helped create a buzz and brought attention to the great research being done at UCI.