The C-Light is a bedside storage replacement targeted towards college students. The design emerged from the limited space in dorm rooms, the need for students to store furniture over the summer, and the observation that most students purchase a bedside table for the room. The C-Light was a joint project between students at Olin College, Babson College, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
On a team of four students, I performed a single factor Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of a commercial espresso machine. We identified the function interaction and character of the commercial espresso machine before performing a complete tear-down and LCA. Finally, we redesigned the system resulting in a 3-4x reduction in environmental impact.
During my senior year, I worked on a year long project for The Mathworks to develop a hardware interface for MATLAB and Simulink for use as a teaching tool in engineering classes. My team identified the opportunity through user studies and market analysis, developed an ideal product concept, and are in the process of developing a fully functional prototype to be tested in classes in Fall 2010. Our product allows for students to use the power of MATLAB and Simulink when interfacing with electronics and hardware.
A Flash Conference is a weekend long, high speed design event attracting interdisciplinary students to work on a real design challenge. With classmates, I have ran three Appropriate Technology Flash Conferences where participants worked alongside experts on composting latrines, pedal powered technologies, and solar concentrators.
I performed a single factor Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of coffee production from seed to cup for Finca Vista Hermosa, a coffee farm in Guatemala. Results of the research were presented at conferences at Harvard University and Duke University.
By identifying and taking into account user needs, our team developed an iPhone app interface for parties who wish to split bills at restaurants. Cognitive walkthroughs, heuristic evaluations, and usability studies provided feedback to improve the overall usability of the application.
Our team of four students were tasked with redesigning a robot used by an Olin College team in the Trinity College Fire Fighting Robot Competition. After learning about the desired functionality, our team developed an expandable but simple platform which reduced the weight and size of the robot considerably.
