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Stanford Students Build Recyclable Laptop

Some things are just hard to recycle. While cellphones have quick-drop depots where you leave and forget last year's model, laptops do not have the same luxury. True, they're highly recyclable, but because of heating and space optimization concerns, they're a veritable mish-mash of parts that take forever to sort.

This issue is what prompted a group of students from Stanford University's ME310 course to build a portable computer that can be easily recycled. The fruit of their efforts is the Bloom Recyclable Laptop. It's so eco-friendly, you can strip it apart in under a minute; 30 seconds to be exact.

According to project member Aaron Engel-Hall, they speeded up the disassembly process by using a single-material case, and having the internal components laid out in easily removable sections. Aside from the intended reasons, this modular design had the added benefit of giving the laptop a detachable, wireless keyboard.

The Stanford team did most of their prototyping and 3-D modelling using Autodesk software. Autodesk was so impressed, they awarded the Stanford grad students last month's Autodesk Inventor of the Month honor. It's a well-deserved award, especially since it takes the planet into consideration.

[souce: Stanford Daily]