INSTANT-STELLA

Tiger, an environmental engineering student and gordon, a civil engineering student, in place of taking a summer internship, harnessed their knowledge in physics, some carpentry skills learnt from back in high school, as well as their ingenuity, to create this multi-parts machine that allow for some fun pouring experience. during the renovation of the bar in which their work would eventually be installed, the pair of friends salvaged a vast amount of waste material, contemplated their alternative functions, and utilized them as parts. old furniture, building materials, containers, tools, toys and other bits got a second chance in their places on the machine. 3 wooden balls travel on individual routes to trigger feature mechanisms on their ways, one of which hammers the lever that would tilt a cold fresh bottle pouring into a glass. the aim of this project is simple, to encourage creative ways of recycling, to add functions and utilize available spaces in any room which is important in a small city like hong kong, and to add some spice and individuality to any establishment, no two will be the same.

Tiger is an active student involved in many social groups and student unions. he took environmental engineering, aiming to learn about the theories and the workings of a sustainable earth. he is a thinker, seeing a deep need of some drastic changes in the world. reflections led him to a pessimism of acceptance, summarizing that this drastic change requires a price too steep or measures too brutal, but still he toils continuously in his field through hopes for our race, while using what he know to build something alternative.

gordon is also active in unions and events. he sees a more efficient way for human to co-exist and he chose civil engineering to get him onto his path. motivated and assured, he is quick to come up with solutions, and unafraid to push forward his ideas, be it sometimes rashly. through time he had learnt the value of discretion and the value of his skills to make different things in life outside of school happen. he became interested in learning extra knowledge and techniques, and putting them to use.

during the building process, tiger and gordon trained and practiced their resourcefulness in acquiring tools and extra materials, their senses to see uses in discarded objects, their ability to plan, communicate, and collaborate, their responsibility and care towards the site of our their work. a pair of good friends, laboring, motivating each other, young ones hopeful of what this can do for the bar and for their future. the contraption was built on level ground, using very precise pathways, and tested extensively. however when hung on the wall, the stress of the weight on the material shifted along with the mechanical dynamics and bent certain rails slightly, unforeseen by the team. they tirelessly returned during school and work days to make modifications, with some of those being quite innovative. as the display period came to an end, the balls still had difficulty traveling on its intended route 100% of the time. so due to safety concerns, it was only operated by the two and therefore not often used. +1 to laws of physics. having devoted so much time into this project and coming into it so optimistic, then to see it failing with no feasible ways to readjust, was very defeating. engineers, scientists, human all, this is part of life. a whole tower can be crumbled by the smallest details. and being young means having plenty of future to suffer defeats, and use the lessons.