Time well spent
so it has been two weeks since i started coming here in the Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen(OEDK). Here is a brief recap on what happened the first week, the first activity was boot-camp in which we were taken through a condensed course of the engineering design process. In order to understand the course better we had to work on a project in which we applied all the principles and guidelines from the engineering design process. The project we were working on was “Design an enrichment device for okapis”. The team i was working with was name Tiger and there were four of us on the team namely Liz, Kelvin, Luis and myself.
Luis(left) Liz(second from the left) Kelvin(in glasses)
Team Tiger
The photos below show the progression of our project. we first brainstormed a milliard of solutions(red sticky notes in the first pic are individual solutions), we combined the ideas generated into complete solutions using a morph chart. we then narrowed down the list to a few solutions using a screening matrix and then zeroed on those we were going to prototype using scoring matrices. We made prototypes for two designs as shown in the pictures above. Evaluating the prototypes allowed us to choose which design to take into medium fidelity prototype.
brainstormed solutions morph chart
The mode of operation of the design is easy, it features trays containing food in a box. the tray are held in an horizontal plane by two carrots sticking out of the box. once an okapi eats the carrot, the tray in the box falls delivering food at the bottom of the box which the okapi can reach using its tongue through holes provided there of.
SUMMER PROJECTS
Then after finishing the okapi project which also marked the end of the training in engineering design process, we were then introduced to the projects which we will be working on this summer. Everyone was given a form to fill in the projects he/she wishes to work on in order of preference. From those, everyone was given a project to work on and i have been teamed with Liz, Tori and Alex(aka team gotta cast them all) to work on a stand that helps people with amputated limbs stand while a cast is being made for them for over 10 minutes.
Liz Tori Me Alex
(during needs finding workshop)
The stand is to be designed so as to provide support to the patients as they are standing for longer periods of time, reduce discomfort and at the same time it should not obscure doctors from working on the patient effectively. being us, there was another team which worked on the same project and made a working prototype.
prototype from previous team
our job so far has been going through their documentation, understanding why they made the decisions that they made and evaluating the prototype they built. From there, we have noted areas to improve on the current design. we are also planning on interviewing our client so that we understand the problem even further, verify the design criteria the previous team developed and get feedback on what they think about the current prototype.
Needs Finding.
yesterday, we were in a needs finding workshop where we were taught how to find problems that need to be solved. Then we considered problems among people with disabilities and in order to build empathy with how they cope and have an understanding of what they go through day by day , we conducted three activities. The activities include being blind folded and asked to navigate the OEDK, riding a wheelchair and having your arms tied so as to simulate arthrogryposis and given cereal to eat. All these activities helped me understand the problems that people with disabilities face everyday and therefore if tasked to help solve any of those problems, i would have a better understanding of what’s at stake.
