Students from the Department of Industrial Design at Yeungnam University, who won the iF Design Student Award 2026. [Provided by Yeungnam University]
Students from the Department of Industrial Design at Yeungnam University, who won the iF Design Student Award 2026. [Provided by Yeungnam University]

Students from Yeungnam University have been recognized for their creative ideas and design quality at an international design competition.

Yeungnam University announced Thursday that senior industrial design students Ahn Ye-rin, Kwon Na-hyeon and Yun Da-young, together with Jo Eui-jeong from Keimyung University, won the iF Design Student Award 2026 for Fingo, a music-based rehabilitation device for children.

The iF Design Student Award is an international student design competition that receives more than 7,000 design concept submissions each year.

This year, 90 outstanding concepts from 22 countries were selected as winners. Fingo was featured on the competition's official website as a Yeungnam University entry in the "Quality Education" category.

Fingo was developed to support the rehabilitation of children with neurological or orthopedic conditions.

The team drew on the observation that conventional rehabilitation therapy — centered on repetitive movements — struggles to sustain children's interest and engagement, and redesigned the required therapeutic motions as a play experience in which children create music.

The international jury particularly praised Fingo for delivering an experience so engaging and immersive that users could forget they were using a rehabilitation device.

Judges also commended the design's formal proportions and material quality, noting that the digital experience effectively enhances the product's value and that each element achieves strong visual harmony.

"This award is meaningful because our students interpreted social challenges in the medical and rehabilitation fields through a design lens and proposed creative solutions centered on user behavior and experience," a Yeungnam University official said.


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com