Matthew Gale, who graduated from the Industrial Design Program in 2006, is the winner of the third annual Eye for Why student design competition, sponsored by Dyson and the Industrial Designers Society of America.

Gale won for his design of the Excubo jacket, which helps commuters comfortably sleep on various forms of public transportation. The jacket is designed with a system of cords and polystyrene foam padding that, when tightened, cause the jacket to transform into a sleeping cocoon. The collar becomes a sleeping mask, the lapels become pillows, the sides tighten around the torso to support upright posture, and the cuffs unwrap to become mittens. The Excubo (Latin for "I sleep outside") provides effective support for the body to sleep while traveling on planes, buses, subways, and other forms of transportation.

Gale was awarded $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to New York, where he was honored at a reception hosted by James Dyson, founder of Dyson. Gale is also now eligible to compete for the James Dyson Award, an international competition between the winners from all the national Dyson award programs, which are held in 13 countries.

Gale designed the Excubo as part of the Industrial Design 6 course, instructed by Bill Wurz and Joanne Oliver. The course is one of the final Industrial Design courses to fulfill the undergraduate program and is tied to the final presentation and Senior Show, which is open to the design community.

For more information on the CCA Industrial Design Program, see Industrial Design. For more information on Dyson, visit Dyson.

The work of faculty members Lia Cook (textiles) and Eric Heiman (graphic design) is included in Design Life Now: National Design Triennial 2006, on view through July 29, 2007, at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Design Life Now features the work of 87 designers and firms, including animation, architecture, fashion, film, graphic design, robotics, textiles, and web design.

Inaugurated in 2000, the triennial seeks out and presents innovative American designs from the prior three years in a variety of fields. Design Culture Now, the first installment of the series in 2000, brought together the work of 83 U.S.-based designers and firms to highlight the blurring of traditional boundaries through the exchange of techniques and ideas among once-discrete disciplines. The second installment of the triennial in 2003, Inside Design Now, showcased conceptual and realized objects from 80 current and emerging leaders in a variety of design fields.

About Lia Cook

Lia Cook works in a variety of media usually combining weaving and painting, photography, and digital technology. Her work explores the sensuality of fabric and the human response of touch. Recently she has been working on a series of large-scale childhood portraits that explore early sensual/emotional experiences. These oversize images—familiar but sometimes haunting—are embedded in the structure of cloth, constructed of individual threads woven together; up close they dissolve into particles of vibrant color or binary traces of black-and-white maps and mazes.

Cook has exhibited her work nationally and internationally. She has recently completed a commission for the Federal Courthouse in Pittsburgh, PA. Her works are in the permanent collection of the MOMA, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC; National Collection, France; de Young Museum, San Francisco; Oakland Museum of California; Musee Bellerieve, Switzerland; and National Gallery of Australia, among others. She has taught in CCA's Textiles Program for 31 years.

About Eric Heiman

Eric Heiman is cofounder of Volume Inc., an award-winning design consultancy, where the work ranges from books to environment design, identity programs, and film. Volume has produced work for a wide array of clients, including ReadyMade, Adobe Systems, Heath Ceramics, Chronicle Books, Sony, SFMOMA, and McSweeneys.

Heiman's writing on design has been published in Emigre and Voice, AIGA's online journal. He has given numerous lectures around the country on design and design education. He graduated from the CCA Graphic Design Program in 1996 and has taught in the program since 1999. He was awarded the collegewide Excellence in Teaching Award in 2003.

Design Life Now features the book ReadyMade: How to Make (Almost) Everything, which Heiman designed.

About Cooper-Hewitt

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution is devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The museum presents perspectives on the impact of design on daily life through educational programs, exhibitions, and publications. Founded in 1897 by Amy, Eleanor, and Sarah Hewitt—granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper—as part of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the museum has been a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967.

For years, alumni and friends of the college have been asking for CCA merchandise. Now, just in time for the college's centennial, a wide variety of products featuring the CCA logo are available through CafePress.com.

Sweatshirts, T-shirts, caps, bags, license-plate frames, tote bags, and mugs are a just a few of the products you will find. Choose among three different designs: classic, centennial, and alumni.

Profits from the sales will benefit the CCA scholarship fund.

Visit CafePress.com.