Three engineering students—one from DTU and two from Sweden—have joined forces with Boxer TV to work on updating the archaic TV antenna.
Over the coming 20 weeks, DTU student Zaland Bahramzy will be teaming up with Sohia Huzelius and Paulina Wisniewska, two MSc students from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden, to work with Boxer TV on a project designed to rethink the conventional TV antenna.
“We were keen to work with students from technical universities because we wanted to apply a more technical perspective to all areas of the project, to bring in new eyes and new minds to come up with new and different ideas,” says Bjørn Cronquist, Sales Manager for Boxer TV.
The project was originally launched around a year ago, based on the realization that there were not many antenna manufacturers—which meant little innovation with regard to antennae.
“The idea behind the project was to attempt to stimulate innovation in the field of TV antennae, from the perspectives of both design and technology,” continues Bjørn Cronquist.
As it stands, the three students first need to meet and then start to develop ideas. A couple of thoughts from Boxer centre on attempting to combine the digital television signal with a mobile communication signal such as 3G or 4G, and to make the antenna so small that it becomes almost invisible. Nothing is ‘written in stone’, however.
“The students are more than welcome to think outside the box, as there is no hard and fast game plan as yet. One thing we are sure of, however, is that both we and the students stand to benefit immensely from the partnership,” adds Bjørn Cronquist.
Free reign
The 25-year-old DTU student Zaland Bahramzy will be responsible for the technological part of the project. He is currently taking the sixth semester of his BEng programme in Electrical Engineering, and heard about the project from Associate Professor Kaj Bjarne Jakobsen, his former lecturer:
“I was just getting ready to start on my internship when Kaj showed me the ad. It was a perfect match for my interest in antennae and wireless communication. Of course, I’m hoping we’ll come up with a tangible product that I can then continue working on as a part of my final project,” he says.
Article in DTUavisen no. 4, April 2015.