Optimist...Pessimist...Engineer

We had a lecture last nite, Robin Chase the founder of zip car was here. I couldn’t believe when she opened up with the quote in response to the age old question: Is the glass half empty or half full?

“don’t see this cup as half full or half empty but as a question of how much water do you need.”

I have always said, the glass is exactly twice as big as it needs to be…I’ve always truly believed that and so I was immediately drawn to her. As she continued on she focused on the quickest solution to any high impact problem is most likely human behavior. Product solutions that will help stop the impact on the earth or reduce carbon emissions are years away from being truly feasible as solutions. The only step we can start taking today is to all be conscious of the fact that WE as humans need to make the change.

The questioned boiled in my mind, "How do you change the American Dream?" She responded with a smile that in the world where cash is queen you just prove the non-economic aspect of it and its the only way to truly make a lasting effect.

This was in general, inspiring. I had been trying to relay my feeling on commuting, poorly designed neighborhoods and public transit and its affect on the sociological and entire living experience of humans by preventing interaction and growth through communication. The poorly informed business school student told me that the real fix would be to make electric cars. He didn't even understand the social implications that the design that American's thrive for (big houses with giant yards & cars) and the limiting affect it has on how we live. Did he know that in suburban neighborhoods most people don't know who their neighbors are?

Is it really a good idea for a father to spend 6 hours on a Saturday mowing his lawn when he could be teaching his kids how to ride a bike or volunteering at the community garden? This lawn, a mass of green that has no positive effect on the environment, is given more time on a weekly basis than to his own children.

Cheers to the future...

Health & Wellness

Our newest project for ME313 is working alongside the innovation division at Humana (a health insurance company based out of Chicago). Our project has nothing to do with health insurance but everything to do with health, wellness and the general wellbeing of humans.
We need to come up with a product, infrastructure or system that will promote some aspect of health to those who come in contact with it. It is very open ended and I'm looking forward to seeing what all the different groups come up with.

So my team and I started our needfinding by conducting some interviews to try and get a more diverse feeling for how people deal with health. I spoke to a young lady, Lisa Marie, who is a yoga instructor in Palo Alto. A Stanford graduate turned entrepreneur, looking to influence people and teach them to accept themselves the way they are before trying to change it. She was energetic and motivated, wishing she could give free lessons and help people realize the they have control. She is transparent with her clients, telling them when she is tired or telling them about how much beer or chocolate she eats so they understand that she is no more perfect than them. Her tatoo says it all: "Release"

I went to a seminar on Mindfullness as well. It is a training in non-judgemental awareness. It is a process that helps you realize what you are doing so that you don't check-out of your own life and live it on auto pilot. By being mindful, you can learn to be present and experience and actually live. I love this concept and have mentioned it to some people about not doing things on auto-pilot. Really taking the time to enjoy a drive to the grocery store or my bike ride to class. Not spacing out allows me to see more things and enjoy more things.

I'm not really the healthiest person. I eat a good breakfast every morning, drink a lot of H20 and hit up the gym a few times a week. I do not get enough sleep, I eat pretty crappy the rest of my meals and I find myself stressed out so often I can feel it physically affecting my body. By seeing and talking with others about their health maybe this project will help me get more motivated to take more control of my own health.

Drink Water.

Pop-Up Modular Housing

The real issue was deciding who actually needs emergency shelter quick and easy. It isn't people in western culture that can be put up in schools and churches or go see relatives...it is the people who are in rural areas where their entire community is destroyed and they need somewhere to stay until they can get more permanent housing constructed.
These communities need a easy-set up/self deploying structure that will provide them with safety from the elements. With this in mind my team and I started brainstorming.

Brainstorm Session 1:
From this we took our tons of ideas and shrank them into a more organized way to view the options for how to make this device. We organized all the main functions and all the possibilities into a morphological chart.

Morphological Chart

From this we started prototyping tons of ideas including housing that used bungees to pop up the structure, to balls that could be rolled and then collapsed into half dome shelters and string pull mechanisms.
In the end we settled on what seemed to be the most reliable solution that met the needs of the victim. We really wanted something that required no tools to set up, very little human power to open and was reliable enough for more than a few days of relief. We wanted it to be something a family could stay in for a few months while they built their home back along with their community.
We created a 1/2 size model of the regularly 8 x 8 x7.5 ft structure to test its ability to collapse and ease of deployment. The model was made of out PVC, bolts, and bungee cords in the vertical members to help force the structure into its open state for easy deployment.

1/2 size Model Set up

1/2 Scale Prototype Collapsed
Collapsed Structure: Sketch by Danika Patrick

Starting to Open Structure: Sketch by Danika Patrick
3rd Step in Deploying the Structure: Sketch by Danika Patrick
Open Structure: Sketch by Danika Patrick
In general though, the 1/2 size prototype had its flaws but the concept worked. It seemed to be a very good product that had potential for real life use. It is light weight, easy to manufacture, collapses small enough to be carried similar to a bundle of woods, expands with ease and can be modular to fit different families. It would be a shelter you could get the day after the disaster that would protect people from the elements and give them a place to be safe till more permanent housing was created.

My Team included Minjeong Kim & David Goligorsky.

The Beauty of Uncertainty...

We discussed this week about the importance of being OK with uncertainty. It is problematic if a designer goes with their initial instinct and doesn't spend time thinking of the problem ftom multiple angles and prototyping these ideas. This problem stems from the power of iterations and building upon other designs. If you skip this step you limit the solution too early.

I'm an engineer....always have been and it can be seen in my methodical layouts, need for lists and urge to define. I don't let it limit me. I just do my best to sit it aside until a point along the way when the ideas are numerous enough that the solution really will be the best option.

Until I reach this point, I let my mind use other people's ideas to spark hybrids. I'm pretty sure when working on the self-deploying emergency housing we went through at least 40 ideas, all of which were slightly related but unique in their solution. The final concept we are working doesn't look like our initial prototypes but the background sure can be derived from them.

A great exercise for designers is to start the design process with voicing the most ideal situation whether it is technologically possible or not. This usually sets high goals for the project forcing iterations, development and challenging of the idea.
-What is the ideal deployable housing?
A 3 x 3 cube that slowly unfolds into a 7 x 7 x 7 shelter.
-What is the best way to solve the gas crisis?
Teleportation
-What is the best way to make a home video?
Camera inset in contact lens so it doesn't hinder your ability to enjoy the event

It certainly sets the bar high and gets the excitement running.