One lasting memory I will remember from this experience is interacting with Yousra, our client, and being able to solve a problem she has as a power wheelchair user. One of the reasons I wanted to go into engineering was to be able to help people and this class and experience in Paris has made me a lot more interested in designing for disabilities and assisting people to be able to be more independent. Talking with Vlad and sharing his experience with helping wheelchair users like Yousra or his mom, inspired me and made me think more about how different people might need to interact with products differently and how much making things accessible can help people. Seeing the Learning Planet Institute was another highlight because I enjoy seeing how other people and organizations set up makerspaces so seeing there was interesting to me. Seeing how the Learning Planet Institute used its smaller space compared the OEDK to provide a similar experience to students and talking to the staff made me realize that you do not need a lot of space or as many tools as the OEDK has to build a great maker space which people can use. One person in the program who has taught me something is Sienna because I have worked with a lot of engineers or people with engineering backgrounds, but I have never worked with someone who is interested in human factors before. Working with her has taught me a lot about designing for human factors and how to design a product to make it as easy for someone to use as possible. Working with her on a cupholder was a perfect opportunity to learn more about human factors because the entire product will be interacted with and will need to be able to be used by anyone. A lot of the products I have designed are either not for people to use or if they are, they are for people with a trained background to use so I have not focused as much on human factors as I should have until now. Some of my favorite memories in Paris are when we would go on a picnic as a group. It was a really good chance to spend time with other people in the program and get to know them better while exploring Paris. We would go shopping before to get baguettes, spreads, meats, cheese, and drinks. We would eat dinner and always end up staying at the park until we got kicked out and it closed. I also really enjoyed the shopping and thrifting we would do as groups after class. I think that the ISEED program was really beneficial for me and I believe that it provides students with so many opportunities. Because studying abroad as an engineer during the school year can be challenging, the ISEED program provides many aspects while being with a smaller group so you can make very deep connections and friendships that will last.
