STICKY SITUATION
Avani Patel
Phil Bagley
Kamile Berenyte
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Women’s shoes that have flat, smooth bottoms do not provide
any resistance to sticky gum. In 1871, the gum production
escalated with the patent of a gum manufacture machine;
today, over 374 billion sticks of gum are made yearly, and
when not disposed of properly, gum becomes a sticky
situation. Women in urban areas have agreed that they hate
it when there is gum stuck on their shoes as evidenced by the
amount of responses to the online search “I hate it when gum
is stuck on my shoe.” Although there are many answers on
how to effectively remove the gum from your shoes, there are
no solutions on how to keep the gum from sticking to the
shoe.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Provide flat women’s shoes with a gum resistant
material to protect the bottom of the shoe.
GANTT CHART
JUSTIFICATION
Methods
 Custodian
 Personal experience
 Articles



City spends $230,000 a year
“Gum hard to remove once stuck to a solid surface” –
SBWire Web
Expert responses
 Surveys
 Informational Interviews
 Patents

PAST AND PRESENT
SOLUTIONS/COMPETITION
EXPERT INPUT/RESEARCH

Chemists



Modern Marvels
Mythbuster’s episode
Engineers
Yaktraxs
 Nano Technology

INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS

Chicago
4 random people – two women, two males
 Interview for personal experience
 Some questions asked:

Notice gum in the city?
 Have you stepped in gum, if so how did you remove?


Custodian
For project reference, more research purpose
 Some questions asked:

Gum disposed on the ground a problem?
 Locations in school with most gum?
 How long to remove gum?

INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEW RESULTS

Chicago
Noted that gum on the sidewalks is problem
 All stated that they have had gum stuck to shoe
 Ways to remove gum off shoe is not efficient


Custodian
Stated that gum serious problem when stuck to floor
 Gum mostly on hallway floors, under bleachers

SURVEY RESULTS
Gender
145; 43%
194; 57%
Male
Female
Age Distribution
60
Number of People
50
40
30
Male
20
Female
10
0
under 16
Male
40
Female
48
16 to 22
32
49
23 to 29
30 to 36
38
13
24
15
Age Group
37 to 43
7
8
44+
15
21
Number of People
Men and Women Shoe
Sizes
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
6 6.5 7 7.5 8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5 13 14 15+
Male
7
0
2
1
9
2 25 7 32 8 27 6 11 2
7
1
2
Female 14 10 24 17 45 22 38 5 13 1
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
Shoe Size
Male
Female
Pairs of Shoes Acquired /yr
Males v. Females
45
40
Number of People
35
30
25
20
Male
15
Female
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9+
Male
17
39
42
12
13
5
3
0
15
Female
6
32
34
31
36
12
10
6
41
Pairs of Shoes
Have you ever had gum stuck on your
shoes?
180
160
Number of People
140
120
100
80
Male
60
Female
40
20
0
Male
Female
Yes
131
164
No
14
30
Do you think it is a hassle to remove gum?
200
180
Number of People
160
140
120
100
80
Male
60
Female
40
20
0
Male
Female
Yes
122
184
No
22
10
Females
Yes
Have you ever had
gum stuck on the
bottom of your shoe?
Total: 194
Yes: 175
No: 19
10%
No
90%
Do you think it is a hassle to remove
the gum from the bottom of the shoe?
4%
Yes
No
96%

Our estimate, 52% of women would be interested in
buying our product.
Would you buy our product?
Yes
40%
No
60%
DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
1) Performance
2) Customer Needs
3) Safety and Legal Issues
4) Materials
5) Global Environment
6) Product Life and Durability
7) Ergonomics
8) Target Cost
9) Size and Weight
10) Operatory Environment
11) Aesthetics
BRAINSTORMING POSSIBILITIES
Slits Design Idea
Sticker Design Idea
Cover Idea
Hydrophilic Design Idea
Senor Design Idea
Slots Design Idea
DECISION MATRIX
Problem Statement Ideas
Criteria
Product will be able to
prevent gum from sticking
to the shoe.
The product can be
accomplished in the given
time.
The product can be made
with the available
resources.
The product is
marketable.
Product is affordable.
Materials used are
durable.
Product has appealing
appearance.
Product is slip resistant.
Product is water resistant.
Weight
3
Product is testable.
Adjustable to shoe size.
Adjustable to shape of the
sole.
Idea 2
4
Idea 5
5
Idea 9
4
2
4
3
2
3
4
3
3
1
5
4
3
1
2
4
4
4
1
4
2
1
2
1
2
3
3
5
4
2
5
4
4
2
1
1
5
4
4
4
2
2
4
1
1
Idea 2- Cover Idea (Rubber
sole that stretches around
the shoe)
Idea 5- PVC Glove Idea
(glove material on bottom of
the shoe that resists gum)
Idea 9- Resistant Material
Idea and Sticker Idea
Combined (one layer of gum
resistant material on bottom
of shoe)
HAND-DRAWN SKETCH OF IDEA
CAD DRAWINGS
Drawing #1
Drawing #2
Drawing #3
BILL OF MATERIALS
Material
Description
Unit Price Quantity
Total Price
Plasti Dip
Material composition of our product
6.88
4
27.52
Aluminum
Foil (roll=25
square feet)
Used to mold product. Allows the plasti 0.99
dip to be easily removed and keep
shape. Also allows product to take
shape without the shoe getting ruined.
2
1.98
Paint Brush
Used to paint on plasti dip
FREE
1
FREE
Clamps
Used to hold shoe on a flat surface
when painting plasti dip on it.
FREE
4
FREE
Sintra Plastic Used as a mold and for a smoother
(1.5 ft x 1.5 ending product
ft)
FREE
1
FREE
Women’s
Shoe Pair
FREE
1
FREE
Used to put foil onto it so product can
take shape
29.5
BUILD PROCESS
Materials
 “Plasti-dip”
 Paintbrush
 Flat bottom shoe
 Scissors
Build Process
 Use foil to cover the bottom of shoe.
 Attach the one of the “one handed” bar clamps to
a table upside down, so that the excess bar length
is pointing upwards.
Attach the second clamp
about ¾ of the shoe length
away. These two clamps will
be used to set up the shoe for
drying.
 Put the Aluminum foil
covered shoe on top of the
“one handed” bar clamps.
Make sure that the bottom of
the shoe is level.
 Evenly paint on the “Plastidip”. Cover the sides a little
past the thickness of the sole.

After 30 minutes, apply another coat. Reapply
until there are 3 coats.
 4 hours after the last coat, the shield with the foil
can be removed, and then remove the foil from
the shield.
 Use scissors to cut the edges straight and trim
down any unevenness at the sides.

TESTING: SLIPPERINESS
Purpose: test whether product is slippery
 Materials:

Testing pendulum
 Different Surfaces: tile, grass, carpet, pavement

Procedure: take pendulum and place it onto the
different surfaces.
 Results:

Stopped or not
With water
Surface
Yes
Tile
No water
No
Yes
X
X
Grass
X
X
Carpet
X
X
Pavement
X
X
No
PICTURES- SLIPPERINESS
TESTING: HEAT RESISTANCE
Purpose: test whether product is heat resistant
 Materials:

T-shirt dryer
 Paper/Pen

Procedure: trace product before and after putting
it through t-shirt dryer at different temperatures.
Note the difference in size and shape.
 Results:

Degrees (F)
Point A (cm)
Before
After
Point B (cm)
Before
After
Point C (cm)
Before
After
Length (cm)
Before
After
140
9.5
9.5
7.5
7.5
6
6
26.5
26.5
170
9.5
9.5
7.5
7.5
6
6
26.5
26.5
200
9.5
9.5
7.5
7.5
6
6
26.5
26.5
PICTURES- HEAT RESISTANCE
TESTING: WATER ABSORPTION
Purpose: test whether product absorbs water.
 Materials:

Bin of water
 Scale
 Timer

Procedure: Submerge product under an inch of
water for 1, 5, 10, and 60 minutes. After each
time interval, take its mass.
 Results:

Time in water (min)
Starting Mass (g)
Ending Mass (g)
1
29.0
29.0
5
28.9
28.9
10
29.1
29.1
60
29.0
29.0
PICTURES- WATER ABSORPTION
TESTING: FLEXIBILITY
Purpose: test whether our product loses shape
after being bent
 Materials:


Protector
Procedure: Marks are made at the 1/3, ½, and 2/3
point of the shoe. For each mark bent shoe at
angles of 60, 120, and 180.
 Results:

Observations
Degrees
1/3 Mark
60
The fold did not produce
any changes in the
product
Returned to its normal
shape; no changes
The fold did not produce
any changes in the
product
Returned to its normal
shape; no changes
The fold did not produce
any changes in the
product
Returned to its normal
shape; no changes
The product was slower
to return to its normal
shape, slight crease
present, but there were
no permanent changes
The product was slower
to return to its normal
shape, but there were no
permanent changes
The product was slower to
return to its normal
shape, but there were no
permanent changes
120
180
1/2 Mark
2/3 Mark
PICTURES- FLEXIBILITY TEST
TESTING: SURFACE TESTS
Purpose: test whether gum sticks to our product
 Materials:



Gum (5 seconds chewed)
Different Surfaces: concrete, carpet, tile, brick, grass
Procedure: Place gum on different surfaces and
make volunteer walk toward gum with product
on his/her shoe.
 Results:

Surface Type
Gum Stuck to Product
Yes
No
Concrete
X
Carpet
X
Tile
X
Brick
X
Grass
X
PICTURES- SURFACES TESTS
TESTING: STRESS
Purpose: test at what point our product will
break
 Materials:

Stress Analyzer (created)
 Lab Stress Analyzer

Procedure: Place product through the stress
analyzer that was made, and then place product
through lab stress analyzer.
 Results: Neither the one of the stress analyzers
could break the product.

RESULTS- STRESS ANALYZER
PICTURES- STRESS TEST
REFINE—BUILD PROCESS


1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Materials:
 Sintra plastic 2’x1’
 Contact cement
 Vertical band saw
Build Process
Cut up the Sintra plastic to four pieces of 1’x6”.
Glue four pieces together with contact cement.
Outline shape of shoe on plastic.
Use a vertical band saw to cut out the shape of the shoe.
Use a paintbrush to evenly apply Plasti-dip.
Let dry for at least 30 minutes.
Apply two more coats, letting each one dry.
After four hours, Plasti-dip mold can be removed.
Use scissors to cut off any unevenness edges.
FINAL SOLUTION PICTURE
IMPROVEMENT?

What we like about new design:


Product is smoother than before
What can still be changed:

Make sure product does not shrink- original plan was
to manufacture a size bigger than needed and then
naturally let it shrink to a certain size.
SUMMARY/ LESSONS LEARNED


Summary
 Gave chance to interact with people
 Build trust among team members
 Ready for “real” world
Lessons Learned
 Be open to new ideas
 Important to communicate with group
 Requires corporation and hard work