By Melissa Alonso | August 4, 2025

At Georgia Tech’s School of Industrial Design, this summer’s studio is challenging students to design for both social impact and commercial innovation—at the same time. Led by Professor of Practice Stephen Chininis, the course pairs two dramatically different projects: a series of real-world mobile laundry solutions for communities across the U.S., and speculative toy designs for a Georgia Tech-founded startup. The studio builds on the success of past projects like the WashBus, which brought mobile hygiene services to unhoused Atlantans and became a national model for design with purpose.

The original WashBus was so successful it drew attention from nonprofits across the country. This summer, four new projects are in development:

• Cleveland, OH – In partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Resource Cleveland, students are designing a bus that provides laundry services to refugee populations while training volunteers and students with special needs in workforce skills.
• Indianapolis, IN – In collaboration with Outreach Indiana and local charities, students are creating a mobile unit to offer laundry and shower access to young people experiencing homelessness.
• Carrollton, GA – Working with Holy Spirit Homeless Resource Bridge and THS Emergency Shelter Inc., students are designing a vehicle that supports dignity and hygiene for Carrollton’s growing unhoused population.
• Mobile Laundry 2.0 – A flexible concept designed for communities not yet ready to launch their own programs. This speculative team is creating a modular solution—plus a fundraising toolkit—to help charities conceptualize and raise support for future mobile hygiene services.

“Only one of the four is actually a bus,” Chininis notes. “We learned from the first WashBus that many organizations can’t use buses because they require a commercial driver’s license. So students are adapting their designs to use vans and box trucks that are easier to operate with volunteers.”

Teams are using Figma, Fusion 360, SketchUp, and Adobe tools to prototype their designs. More importantly, they’re working with real clients, budgets, and constraints—transforming classroom creativity into practical, life-changing systems.

While tackling urgent social needs, each student is also developing a toy for ZipString, a startup launched by Georgia Tech alums. The company challenged students to design playful, affordable, and imaginative products that could appeal to a wide age range. If ZipString selects a student design, they’ll receive a royalty.

“The toy project is totally different in tone,” Chininis says. “It’s speculative and commercial, where students have creative freedom and a real opportunity to see their ideas sold. That balance between fun and purpose gives students a wide range of experience in one studio.”

Chininis runs his studio like a real design workspace—coffee included. “I love teaching this studio because it gives me room to try new things,” he says. “We have a more casual environment during summer, and it’s often easier to get sponsors. Students tend to stay well past class hours because they’re invested in the work.”

That work is both imaginative and impactful. Whether students are brainstorming toys or helping nonprofits reimagine hygiene access, they’re building the kinds of experiences that last beyond the semester—and beyond the classroom.

As Chininis puts it, “They’re making a difference for real people—and discovering what kind of designer they want to be.”