Wanderlust
How might we create a design project that embodies our interpretation of the term “wildest dreams”?
When entering the Engineering Design Innovation program at Northwestern we have a three week long bootcamp before classes start to get acquainted with new skills, professors and the other members of our cohort. Throughout the three weeks each student is required to complete a personal design project that showcases our new skills. The theme for this year’s bootcamp projects was “Wildest Dreams”. When given this theme I immediately thought about the time my family spent living in the Netherlands. During this time I was able to travel and experience new cultures through things such as language and food. These experiences and gained perspective made me feel much more connected to the people and the world around me, so I wanted to create this sense of connection for other people through my bootcamp project. Using new skills such as Adobe Illustrator, laser cutting, sawing, and mechatronics, I created an interactive map that allows people to hear “hello” spoken in a country’s national language upon touch. Overall, I had a great time creating this project and I hope it inspires people to go out and connect with the world around them.
Contributions
I would like to say a special thank you to my cohort members, EDI faculty and our bootcamp lead John Welch.