Invention: Auxilia

Morgan Lewis ’18 MS wanted to create a storage solution to keep her guitar safe during “rest mode” — between songs or at breaks during gigs. For her Engineering Design Innovation final project, she created Auxilia, an attachable stand that stays out of the way while the guitarist is playing and deploys automatically when she sets the guitar down. It won the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s 2019 Creative Tech Showcase. Lewis created a prototype that she is refining and engineering for manufacturing. The singer also recently designed a shoe that celebrates women in country music as part of the Nike By You x Cultivator campaign.

1. Open and Shut

The stand’s hinged leg deploys automatically when the magnetized latch mechanism is activated.

2. Thin to Win

The stand, made of spring steel, is thin enough that it can fit with the guitar in a hard-shell case, which is designed to allow little wiggle room. “And when you’re playing, it lies flat against the guitar. It’s so thin that you can’t really feel it,” says Morgan Lewis.

3. Latch Attachment

When the mechanism at the bottom of the guitar touches the ground, it releases magnets that hold the leg in place. When the guitar is picked up, the spring-activated magnets move back down to catch the leg and keep it closed.

4. No Glue or Screws

The stand attaches by compression. “It clamps onto the guitar with tension,” says Morgan Lewis. “Everywhere that it might touch the guitar, it’s covered in foam, so it’s not going to scratch it. And it doesn’t affect the guitar’s acoustics because it doesn’t touch the back of the guitar.”