Major application (undergraduate)
Engineering and design has been at the center of my efforts to change the world, and have informed my perception of the real world around us. I have been able to combine my technical knowledge with social understanding to have a better view of the world which has many challenging situations that needs to be solved. There is a need to bring designing skills and engineering knowledge to reshape the world through providing concrete solutions to the many problems facing the world (University of Washington, 2015). In addition to this is the need to include human factors in the engineering knowledge so that to avoid designing and producing products that can be potentially catastrophic or result to consequences in the produced products and processes. Any design and engineering should be aimed at assisting in finding out solutions to human problems but not function as a source of these problems (University of Washington, 2015). The world expect that anyone who has such vast knowledge to be different in their approach to problems and hence a catastrophic failure in the application of these skills and knowledge cannot be excused at all. In this sense, I have noted the serious environmental requirements considerations as an important aspect of design due to growing pressure from regulatory authorities and the public. These requirements have a fundamental impact in the way I would design and launch new products or processes. For instance, there is a need to develop methods of evaluating of curbing pollution emissions while the design in its early stage. In addition, various practices involved in design and engineering have to conform to the various requirements such as environmental regulations in order for them to achieve intended goal of solving human problems.
As I continue to increasingly understand my designing abilities and engineering knowledge, I find a desire to use my talents and new found perspective to expose opportunities and solve very complex challenges. It is an urgent call to move beyond the conventional boundaries of what has been known to be designing effort and into a realistic definition of and exposure of new solutions. Through the interaction with the various organizations that employ engineers in many capacities, I have been able to sharpen my creativity and, hence, create prototype that can offer solutions that are present in the society. An interaction with experienced engineers has been boost to my skill so that through my small ways, I have managed learn how to design solution centered products. My work has majorly involved impact design, where I always intend to get involved in projects that are meaningful and that will impact the world around us positively. It has involved using software to do so, and this has enabled me to bring to light the achievements designing and engineering can create in each and every day. By observing engineers and designers use various tools to come up with essential but extraordinary things, I have been able to learn from them and follow their footsteps. In future, I desire to engage in a more empathy in design. As such, a stronger empathetic understanding of how a product is experienced by users will be more important. For instance, with a population that is increasingly aging, people may require a product that will help in solving their problems, but not necessarily a product they would desire to have. I also hope to contribute towards the development of devices that are more automated so as to offer an interaction with customers. In addition, I intend to engage in wide research on how designing can be used in interventions that impact on people’s thinking, behavior and awareness. The focus areas for design interventions normally involve health, education, leisure, social influence, personal awareness and motivations.
At this juncture, I know that HCDE will drive a human-centric perspective which is an aspect I intend to use in future for my career. Despite my eagerness to apply science and technology to design new products and services, being able to create interventions that can offer solutions to various problems in the society is more fulfilling. This is because HCDE has a lot of potential for extension of product’s array of usability to a large demographic (University of Washington, n.d). A technology that would reach out to a big social group can provide such full potential. In the department, I plan on embarking on researching more on how to build various digital technologies that can be used in coordinating and collaborating students learning process.
References
University of Washington, (2015).Designing up. Retrieved from http://www.hcde.washington.edu/files/2015-Designing-Up-HCDE-web.pdf:
University of Washington, (n.d). Human Centered Designing & Engineering. Research Areas. Retrieved from: http://www.hcde.washington.edu/research/areas
