APRIL 2008 Issue
STUDENT COLUMN
Social Consciousness — One Design at a Time
BY MELISSA TIERNEY
University of Calgary
Student Columnist
(Engineering)
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Is it possible to create more socially conscious first-year engineering students — through a design project? According to the second design and communication class at the University of Calgary, it sure is.
The Inclusive Design Project forced the first-years to reconsider established designs in order to make them more accessible for more people. The project was to design a product or environment for use by as wide a segment of the general population as possible, considering the entire cycle of use of the product.
Instead of simply assuming the conditions necessary to make a more accessible product, the students were introduced to people who suffered from various inhibiting diseases, including those with paraplegia and cerebral palsy. The students stepped up to the task with astonishing aptitude.
In fact many of their designs are being given a serious look by disability agencies. One such design created a hook to allow those with paraplegia or other dexterity-inhibiting diseases to button up their shirts — it’s called, appropriately enough, the Buttoner.
“It was an excellent experience to see some real-world applications of the theory we learned in class,” said Brett Lavender, one of the designers. “The fact that our design was able to enrich the lives of many people made the project very rewarding.”
The person who actually tried it was shocked by how easy it was to use. “I’d love to have one,” he said.
Other product designs included a lawnmower pulled by a wheelchair, a Lazy-Susan-esque fridge, and a DVD case opener for people lacking dexterity in their fingers.
Other students chose to entirely redesign Calgary’s public transit system, change the construction of lecture halls in schools and even revamp entire cities to make roads, architecture, public spaces and other places more accessible.
One transit system design would have a double-decker-style monorail replace the current C-Train in Calgary. Able-bodied people would be encouraged to use the top deck to make room for those with limited mobility to use the bottom one.
This design also featured treads to help keep people from slipping at corners, and visual and audio cues.
“This project really made me realize all of the things that need to go into a smart design,” said Neven Dimic, an APEGGA student member and one of the first-years who came up with the monorail system. Evidently, an engineering assignment really can make students more socially aware.
Speechless in Victoria
Schulich engineering students proved their superiority, earlier this year at the Western Engineering Competition in Victoria. A group of four first- and second-year students stunned judges with a simple yet effective solution to the design problem they were presented.
The task seemed simple: transport cargo up a ramp and drop it into a designated bowl below. Yet only two of the 16 teams completed it. The junior team from Calgary, which took first place in the competition, accomplished the goal with a sliding tower design.
Following the elements of familiarization, functionality and testing taught in the first-year design and communication class, the students made their design as simple as possible while being able to justify it in engineering terms. “The judges were literally left speechless,” remarked Tom Bielecki, one of the junior competitors.
The impressive win earned the boys a trip to Kitchener, Ont., in March, where they competed in the 23rd Canadian Engineering Competition. This marks the first time the competition has been held at the University of Waterloo since it began there in 1985.
This year’s theme, Designing Global Change, emphasizes the need for innovative thought and responsible action and change. According to www.cec2008.ca, the competition’s website, the challenge forced teams to think about the global effect of their potential designs.
Watch for results in my next article.
Bursary Recipients Announced
The PEGG Wives Club of Calgary is pleased to announce its University of Calgary bursary recipients for 2007-2008.
The recipients are Stephanie Ann Coupland, a second-year mechanical engineering student, and APEGGA student member Winnie Wong, a second-year chemical engineering student with a biomedical specialization.
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