Business / PhD student launches crowdfunder after designing laptop stand
Drew Garrick couldn’t find what he wanted online, so decided to create one himself
AN ENTERPRISING PhD student from Shetland has designed his own laptop stand – with a £7,500 crowdfunding campaign now launched in a bid to take the item from a prototype into production.
Mechanical engineer Drew Garrick – originally from the Westside – has developed the Endobase, a “laptop stand with a difference” aimed at supporting MacBooks.
The 23-year-old is studying a PhD in materials and manufacturing methods at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, and he has launched the Endobase project as something to do on the side.
Garrick said the stand provides cooling, comfort and consistency via its CNC machined heatsink design.
“This summer I bought my first ever MacBook Pro for my job in research, and I love it, but it can get hotter than I find comfortable,” he said.
“I couldn’t see a stand on the market which met my expectations, so I decided to design one to be everything I wanted. That’s the main reason I’ve done this – I wanted one.”
Taking things into his own hands, Garrick used his experience to come up with a design, which resulted in prototypes being made.
The prototypes have been manufactured by a company in Germany.
“When I saw the costs as a bespoke one-off I thought the only way that this will be viable is if I offer it out to the public via something like Kickstarter,” Garrick said.
“That way the economies of scale start to kick in.
Garrick said in tests the stand has reduced the temperature in proximity to his laptop’s CPU by around 15 degrees Celsius, noticeably taking the edge off its overall temperature.
While designed for MacBooks, the stand could also be used for other laptops, although there is a warning about obscuring fan inlets for devices of other designs.
Garrick, who went south in 2015 to attend university, said the project has given him an interesting hobby during lockdown and the pandemic.
“This has been a cool side project and an interesting hobby for me,” he said.
“I’ve learned so much during the process of setting up the campaign, and really enjoyed bringing an idea all the way to market.”
The Kickstarter page for Garrick’s EndoBase project can be found here.
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