Summary: The growing number of successful and sometimes inspirational college-dropouts like Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs weighs on young people making the decision on whether or not to go to college. Likewise, there is a compelling argument in that attending college has become less about learning something new or educating oneself and more about simply paying to have a degree or a credential. How do we address this? The report offers a few ideas and tests my hypothesis through a systems thinking approach.
Title of Project: Fabricated Under Nature (FUN) Toys Summary: The materials that toys are made from have changed, what toys can do has changed, what they cost has dramatically changed but the fact that children love to play with toys has not changed. However, we have entered a dangerous era of social disparity where we have families in developed countries that have too many toys to play with, that often get discarded without options to reduce, recycle or reuse, negatively impacting our planet, and we have impoverished families and communities with children who share the same love and joy of wanting to play but are deprived of this joy because of the extensive commercialization of toys. Fabricated Under Nature (FUN) Toys is a project that hopes to bridge this gap through affordable toys that are easy to make, use and dispose
Title of Project: Toddler Sleep System
Summary: The report outlines a biometrics inspired design and prototype of a toddler sleep system (bed). The report discusses the different phases of project development, planning and then finally the execution of the design.
Title of Project: EV Charging Station
Summary: This report has been prepared to highlight an approach for designing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and the parking spaces where EV supply equipment will be used to charge vehicles.
Title of Project: Redesign of Hamilton Beach Juicer
Summary: As a part of the “Collaborative Product Design” class we have tried to redesign the Hamilton Beach Juicer using practical tools for sustainable design and real-life metrics to measure success. In our final report, we have generated illustrations and renderings as well as evaluated designs with high-level life cycle assessments. Our design recommendations leverage upon principles that include systems thinking, energy effectiveness, lightweighting, design for lifetime (repair, recycling, etc.), material choice, biomimicry, Cradle to Cradle and persuasive design.
Title of Project: Female Literacy Campaign
Summary: The illustrations outline a campaign and sample announcements for awareness against female illiteracy, a very important social disparity issue.