Hungarian Design Student Wins Electrolux Design Lab 2007 With E-Wash Washing Machine

PARIS, Nov 29 (MARKET WIRE) -- Levente Szabo from Moholy-Nagy University of Art & Design, Hungary, has won the Electrolux (PINKSHEETS: ELUXY) Design Lab 2007 competition with E-wash,a compact washing machine that uses soap nuts instead of detergent.

The 2007 Electrolux Design Lab challenged students to come up with environmentally sound, commercially viable products and solutions that would enable consumers to live in greater harmony with the environment.

In India and Nepal, people have used the soap nut (sapindus mucorossi) for centuries to get their clothes clean. Szabo says that a kilogram of soap nuts would last the typical person a year, and soap nuts are good for people with allergies and gentle on clothes.

"E-wash is a brilliant connection between ancient knowledge and high-tech,"comments juror Henrik Otto, Head of Global Design for Electrolux. "It takessomeone open-minded to look for solutions from somewhere else and applythem to his own culture."

"The soap nut is a natural plant and can be cultivated. It does not harm nature but is a part of it," said Szabo. "The other problem was the form ofconventional washing machine. I reduced the size and made it flat, so it would fit into a small apartment, but also would be able to wash a lot of clothes at the same time."

Second Place went to Pebble, a portable, solar food cooker that usesspray-on solar cells and induction heating for precise, energy-efficient cooking. It wassubmitted by Laura Pandelle from Ecole Boulle, France.

"This is a fascinating design that's plausible and really useful," commentsjuror Jason Bradbury, a UK technology presenter. "Solar paint is an interesting use of a really exciting technology."

Third Place went to Go Fresh by He Cheng Fei from Jiangnan University,China. Go Fresh is an energy-saving fridge with individual, honeycomb-shaped compartmentsthat preserve each type of food at the right temperature and can be removed to be taken on a picnic.

Adds juror Matali Crasset, an award-winning French designer, "With the foodstored at the ideal temperature, people may waste less."

The Design Lab '07 award is a prize of 5,000 Euro and a six-monthscholarship at one of the Electrolux Group's global design centers.

The other five finalists are:

-- Circompo by Thanat Tengamnuay from King Mongkut's University of -- Circompo by Thanat Tengamnuay from King Mongkut's University of

Technology Thonburi, Thailand. Circompo is a composter and garbage bin that

decomposes organic waste -- especially food -- using microorganisms that

are kept under ideal conditions of air, moisture and heat to speed the

process.