I had a really lovely first week in Paris. The weather was amazing, I met a new iSEED student who joined us for this class, and got the chance to work on a new design challenge with a new group. That’s not to mention all the amazing things I saw outside of class: the Musee d’Orsay, the Notre Dame, a walk around Le Marais, and more. I’ve been to Paris before, so my vision of it was accurate to how it turned out. However, I had never visited in the summer before, so it was really nice to see everybody (both Parisians and visitors) out and about.
My key memories from this week will likely be visiting the Paris Airshow, getting lemon and sugar crepes with my friends, and getting to understand the Global Paris Center for the first time. The Paris Airshow was really memorable because I love all things aerospace, and I got to go with a good friend. I had an amazing time looking at the flight shows and meeting a NASA astronaut. I will also remember the sugar and lemon crepe simply because it’s my favorite. I remember having them last time I was in Paris, and I’ve missed it ever since then, so I am really glad to have had them again. And, finally, seeing the GPC was really nice because I had heard so much about it, but only ever seen pictures of it. When it finally became real to me, I was really excited, and it was really neat to see how Rice established a presence abroad.
I think the main team activities that I will take away from this experience are the scavenger hunt and exploring the engineering design process for the first time. I had a really good time seeing all the different parts of Paris, especially the residential areas, since I probably wouldn’t have seen them otherwise. I also enjoyed going through the engineering design process because I haven’t taken ENGI/EDES 120, so it felt nice to get a hold of some engineering design content. I really felt like I was learning and I will definitely take these lessons with me.
However much I learned, there is still room to improve. Our group is building a cylindrical device that will grab onto a certain object (a lipstick, a jar, a glue stick, etc) and help twist it open. The goal is to reduce the input force necessary in order to help people with dexterity issues open things. We have the over all idea for the cylinder, but we have yet to figure out for certain how the inside of the cylinder will grab onto the lipstick or jar. We might have to reduce the range of diameters that we’re working with in order to make this process simpler or more feasible.
In the future, I feel like this idea could, in theory, take off. It is not ugly, and could fit into a kitchen without being too harsh on the eye. It would also effectively open many items that currently pose an issue to several people who struggle doing things that others do easily day to day. I think it could serve as a more universal solution to a problem which, as far as our research showed, has very few functional, aesthetically pleasing, and diverse solutions.
While working on our design, I felt I was most successfully in my drawing during the brainstorming process. I feel like some of these ideas can be quite hard to articulate through just words, and using either CAD or paper drawings helps make that much easier. I have dedicated a lot of my life to studying art, so I felt that I was able to communicate my ideas well through my drawings. This was also the part that I enjoyed the most as well, since I have a passion for art and diagramming. On the other hand, I struggled the most with understanding my groupmates’ ideas. Maybe this is because they have taken ENGI/EDES 120 and move faster than me, or just because there was a communication barrier, but I didn’t feel like I was fully understanding the ideas that they were trying to explain. And, when I tried to explain the flaws I found in them, they didn’t fully understand what I was trying to say, either. I think it will take a little more time working as a team to get over these hurdles, but it is doable.
Over all, my favorite part of the week was thinking how we can turn a real problem into a solution that doesn’t look overly technical or medical. I was really pleased to have settled on the cylinder idea with my team, as that feels like a feasible, aesthetically pleasing, and functional solution. I felt very proud of us as a group when we were able to come to this synthesis after an hour of brainstorming and evaluating.
And, over all, my advice to future iSEED students is to either take ENGI/EDES 120 before coming to the program, or being willing to feel a bit behind. I do feel supported in my learning and as though I am a valuable contributor to the class, but it does still feel like everyone is a step ahead of me. If that isn’t something you are comfortable with, I’d say wait to take EDES200. On the other hand, it could be a fun challenge. It all depends on what you’re feeling up for.