Engineering and Interior Design: Student Initiative | MAKO Design + Invent

Student Initiatives to Support Fellow Peers

IDEA Interior Design & Engineering Affiliation is a competition hosted by Cranial Nerves with Ryerson Communication & design society. The event is to promote collaboration between the Engineering and Interior Design students at Ryerson University.  The competition embraces the notion of having students learn from one another through the exchange of ideas. Having the two programs work together will provide insight as to how different multi-disciplinary professions connect with one another in the future work place. The design students are given a problem where an accessibility issue must be solved by the teams of students from both departments. Sidrah Noor hosted the event to help young designers and engineers discover different perspectives of their fields and to prepare them for what is out there in the work force. The two faculties have never worked together before, and Sidrah has given them a great opportunity to have both faculties learn about topics that might be slightly out of their areas of expertise. MAKO loves supporting events that promote and support our younger millennia while paving a road of new discoveries and knowledge.

The judges at the event were chosen from different disciplinary so that the criterion was well rounded. There were sixteen groups formed by students from both faculties. The design problem that was given to them was an accessibility issue at the recreation and athletic center in Ryerson. The problem centered on wheel chair users not being able to evacuate the building efficiently during fire emergencies. They were given the chance to visit the site and to make adjustments to it, while keeping in mind the cost effectiveness, portability and marketing aspect of the project. Students were to discover a solution while being given the freedom to use any software program to demonstrate their idea.

The winning team showcased their idea of a spiral staircase that will be situated in the middle of the atrium. This gives access to wheel chair individuals to travel up and down the staircase during evacuations. The design aspect of the staircase included a rock-climbing wall, giving it an athletic feel, which fits in with the location. Other groups came up with a mechanical lift system, where the wheelchair users can be lifted from the bottom to the top. All of which are innovative ideas that included a wide variety of creativity and thought processes.

Students were engaged with real world problems and were given a chance to tackle them with realistic world scenarios. Every student was given a chance to present his or her ideas and to show the innovative component of a practical solution.

It’s incredible to see such great initiatives by students for students. We feel that the best way to promote a progressive community is to continuously provide support to the younger generation. What better way is there to do so, than having initiatives run by innovative students, to support their fellow peers!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial designmechanical engineeringelectrical engineeringpatent referralprototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *