Alex Gunning
He/Him
A multi-skilled designer who enjoys bringing life to ideas with electronics and additive manufacturing.
Passionate about prototyping and visualisation
- Product Design, Visualisation, Electronics, and Rapid Prototyping.
He/Him
Sonare is a fully integrated digital musical instrument and learning ecosystem for older adults. It features ergonomic, low-dexterity playing surfaces with large capacitive-touch keys, chord pads to minimise strain, and an onboard flip-up touchscreen for selecting modes and adjusting settings without a PC.
Social connection is enhanced with the help of seamless local and virtual play via Bluetooth or USB connections, and a companion app for keeping up to date with friends and family.
Features like friend lists, live virtual events, and discussion forums help develop communities and combat loneliness.
Sonare features three core modes: Solo Play, Local Group Play, and Virtual Jam, which are designed to promote connection through music and reduce feelings of isolation.
Built-in speakers, adaptive difficulty, and personalised feedback make individual learning accessible and rewarding, while online features support community and collaboration.
Interactive pitch and rhythm games guide users with clear audio-visual cues, supporting steady progress and building confidence.
Using in-depth surveys and prototypes with all the key user interactions, the technology inside Sonare was developed.
Sonare uses capacitive strips with notes mapped for one octave in a piano format on the right hand and ‘chord pads’ on the left hand.
To use this layout, the user can assign a ‘root note’ or bottom note of the chord with their right hand and then press a chord pad to complete the rest of the notes in that chord.
The benefit is that a complicated learning technique on the piano is simplified to a simple two-touch interaction.
Sonare has been designed with real-world manufacturing in mind. The enclosure is optimised for ABS injection moulding, with consistent wall thickness, undercut-free geometry, and strategically placed bosses for secure fastening.
Internally, a custom PCB integrates the capacitive touch input, power management, and audio circuitry into a compact, single-board solution. This enables rapid assembly and reduces complexity.
From speaker housing to screen alignment, every part is designed with assembly logic, and part reduction in mind.
Swirl is a manual ice cream maker designed for consumers who value hands-on and personalised food preparation.
Inspired by the ‘Slow Living’ movement and vintage kitchen tools, it offers a tactile, sustainable alternative to electric ice cream makers, hoping to encourage creativity and connection.
A wireless robot designed to navigate a challenging obstacle course and, upon reaching its target, deploy an onboard dual-fan air-jet extinguisher to blow out a candle.
Combining a 3D-printed chassis with a moon-rover style rocker-bogie suspension and Ackermann steering, the robot was suited for navigating the course.
Reliable traction over ramps and cambered surfaces was aided by the silicone cast wheels, and the integrated compact centrifugal-fan “extinguisher” capable of reaching up to 65 cm made snuffing the candles easy.
The internal electronics comprised a Raspberry Pi Pico–with four small N20 motors, one for each wheel, providing four-wheel drive.
The robot was remotely controlled by an Arduino-nRF24L01 joystick interface and allowed for seamless mode-switching between driving and turret-aiming iteratively refined through testing to deliver a prototype that met its navigational and extinguishing objectives.
Diploma of Professional Studies awarded
Visualisation Intern
Diageo PLC
54 week Internship
Jun 2023 – Jul 2024
Early-stage concept development and prototyping for packaging and sustainable solutions, supporting breakthrough and pipeline innovation through rapid prototyping, mockups, and rendering.
Responsible for pre-press printing, optimisation and machine maintenance on large-format UV and Solvent printers. Carried out rapid prototyping on large SLA and FDM 3D printers, post-processing afterwards to a high standard.