Mechanical engineering majors Kyle Bieze and Scott Hill have invented a solution to space issues affecting residential life residents on campus.
It’s a small wooden table with a metal arm that hangs off the frame of the beds found in Tech’s dorms. Bieze and Hill call it The Tech Table.
Bieze made a prototype with iron vice, pipes and wood. After this, Hill became involved and made a product close to what is being sold now. The current Tech Table has a metal arm with three screws holding it to the wooden frame. The metal arm has a hook so it can be safely attached to the bed frame utilized in the dorms on campus.
“When sleeping on an elevated bed, it becomes a challenge to find a decent area to leave an alarm clock or set down a pair of glasses before falling asleep,” said Bieze. “The first draft of the soon to be Tech Table solved practically all of the problems I had while sleeping on a lofted bed.”
Bieze and Hill aren’t limiting themselves to Tech’s campus.
“We identified schools that had the same bedframes that our school has so that the tables would work on them and pretty much across the board,” said Hill. “Most states schools have them.”
The pair claims they have sold models to Austin Peay and Middle Tennessee State University and have their sights set on other schools within the state.
The Tech Table is designed to be a night stand without losing the floor space and can hold up to 20 pounds.
“They can hold anything you want to put by a bed,” said Bieze. “You can’t hold a mini fridge on it but you can hold anything from a smart phone to a laptop to a lamp.”
The Tech Table is currently for sale in the campus bookstore for around $30.