Industrial Design
During my final semester at the University of Delaware, I had the privilege to participate in a newly developed class designed to teach industrial design concepts to the mechanical engineering student body. Along with my Junior and Senior Design projects, it was a valuable experience to apply theory to solve problems in the real world.
The course, led by Dr. Jennifer Buckley and industrial designer Whitney Sample, taught us many basics of industrial design, such as
Levels of prototype fidelity and ways to utilize them to their fullest
Approximating form with soft foams
Iterating quickly through 3D prints
Materials used in each level of prototype fidelity
Foam core
Woodworking and treatments
3D printed models
Plastic molds
Acrylics/Plexiglass
How to operate tools used in prototyping
Acrylic bender
Dremel
Vacuum mold
3D printers
Safe use of blades
Sewing machine
Considerations for user-friendly design
Incorporating affordances to guide new users
Ergonomic grips for hand tools that accommodate different sized palms
The importance of user-centered research
Conducting qualitative research with end users
Interpreting findings to determine areas of improvement
Whitney Sample, course instructor and co-director of UD’s Design Studio, holding an early prototype of the HensNest mask he developed to combat mask shortages for medical staff during 2020.
As we learned new prototyping techniques, we would be given prompts to satisfy that mandated use of one or more techniques. These "Individual Skills Mastery" tasks were completed independently from all other students and instructors to ensure each student learned through working with their hands directly. For example, our first assignment was to create an all-in-one hardware package for homeowners using foam core and paper prototyping skills.
Foam core prototype for a all-in-one home painting kit.
Wooden prototype for an ergonomic grip for a hand tool.
Fabric prototype for an elastic wrist cuff to be used as comfortable protective equipment.
Concurrently with the skills workshops and individual assignments, students worked in small teams on semester-long design projects sponsored by Stanley Black & Decker. These projects focused on improving aspects of their Hand Tools and Storage retail products currently manufactured and sold. Our teams conducted qualitative research with end users of our chosen product, recording their responses and identifying problem points. Each member generated unique designs that aimed to resolve the identified issues, creating foam core models to iterate through different forms before moving to 3D printed functional prototypes. Throughout the four month long semester groups met virtually with engineers from Stanley Black & Decker to share progress and solicit feedback and suggestions.
The project culminated at the Engineering Design Showcase, where each group presented their final findings and path forward to representatives of Stanley Black & Decker and attendees who agreed to a non-disclosure waiver. Though this project was subject to an NDA and thus I am unable to share specific details about my work, I can share that I created several CAD parts and assembly files incorporating stock fasteners and other hardware, as well as conducted analyses using SolidWorks motion study and created a Python program to process the output data into graphics. I thoroughly enjoyed the project from start to finish and I view it as the reason I seek a career in product design for retail products!