Rubagabaga Village : Empowering Villages Center and Agricultural Training Center

By partnering with non-profit organizations such as Journeyman International and Empowering Villages, undergraduate students can engage in senior projects that have far reaching humanitarian impacts. Journeyman International is well known for creating powerful teams of students who tackle design challenges in developing countries. This paper details the work of two architectural engineering students from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo on a design for the Empowering Villages Center (EVC) and Agricultural Training Facility (ATF) in Rubagabaga Village, Rwanda. The EVC and ATF project was proposed by Empowering Villages, an organization that aims to bring electricity and socioeconomic growth to rural communities in East Africa. The students collaborated on an interdisciplinary team for nine months to produce structural calculations and drawings for the project. In addition to the structural calculations and drawings, this report includes a project overview, challenges, the final impact, team dynamics, and personal reflections

A Case Study of Applied Co-Design in 3D Virtual Space for Facilitating Bicycle Use on Light Rail Systems

Cycling is highly recommended by experts concerned with environmental and public health. Cycling does not produce CO2 emissions, can be economical, and can improve physical fitness. However, the barriers to cycling remain significant to many. Combined with a light rail system the bicycle offers a compelling alternative to automobiles; yet, bicycles are denied access on certain rail systems because they can take too much space away from pedestrians who share the light rail interior. To help solve this problem, Co-Design in 3D virtual space is proposed as an effective means of creating an innovative design solution. The digital questionnaires and virtual 3D modeling research/design method used in this study gives the participant the ability to offer insights and express ideas through digital means and in 3D virtual space. This method, Co-Design in Virtual Space (CoDeViS), was developed by the author. CoDeViS methods are an outgrowth of physical co-design methods such as 2D collages and 3D Velcro modeling, developed by those featured in The International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts. Physical 3D methods have been widely accepted in the new product development industry as effective ways to involve people outside a design team in the research and design process. CoDeViS methods offer promise to those seeking to make the principles of co-design available to larger groups of people in discrete locations around the world at lower cost. Historical developments, current technology, and the abilities of everyday people make CoDeViS possible.</p

Helping design educators foster collaborative learning amongst design students

This paper discusses the development of online teaching resources that enable design educators to foster collaborative learning amongst students in the design disciplines. These online teaching resources will be made available through the Design Collaboration website. This website was recently set up by Northumbria University, a UK based institution, to provide an online resource for design educators wishing to develop collaborative pedagogies in design education. It currently contains case studies of collaborative student projects but lacks practical teaching resources. As a result, a research project was set up to compliment the current case studies by creating a suite of design-specific tools and resources that will help foster team management and development. Although various institutions have addressed the subject of group work and collaborative learning, there has been no online resource dedicated to the development of practical teaching tools to help design students work and learn together. This paper focuses on showcasing the range of teaching tools and resources developed through classroom-based trials. These resources have been developed specifically in consultation with Northumbria University's design educators and trialled with undergraduate and postgraduate students from different design disciplines. In addition, issues surrounding the translation of these tools into a practical, easy to use and accessible in an online format is discussed. The Icograda World Design Congress 2009 Education Conference is the ideal international platform to share these tools with the wider design education community. More importantly, we hope to grow the website by encouraging other design educators to submit case studies to the website, using it not only as a means of sharing good practice but also as a tool for reflection. The research value is two-fold (a) translating implicit knowledge of collaborative learning into a practical teaching resource and, (b) helping tutors improve their teaching practice, by linking the teaching resource to real experiences through case studies and interviews

Developing communities of practice and research through research informed teaching and learning in cross-cultural groups.

This conceptual research aims to answer three questions: • What is the process for learning where teachers and learners research together? • How can this process be enriched and enhanced, specifically working within an international and cross-cultural student population? • How can a co-existence of a pedagogic research informed learning and teaching environment be embedded with staff and students? This research looks into the way staff research informs pedagogic practice, and how staff work as ’joint partners’ with students to deliver more ’iterative’ education learning models. The research is aimed at the development of inclusive scholarly knowledge-building communities of practice (see Brew, 2006). The research highlights how staff work with students in an iterative communal process through project-based research activity and collaborative teamwork within cross-cultural groups. It also describes the processes of working with students and how it has helped to directly reinforce the curricula and informed the author’s own learning and teaching strategies. Significantly, this type of open engagement with cultural groups has alerted the author to howtraditional linear ’Western’ forms of academic research within art and design can be influenced by Eastern models of research enquiry. The research describes a coexistence of practice where research and enquiry can be fluidly exchanged between teacher and student. Changes were made to curricula to develop a more social constructivist form of working (Gredler, 1997) where both the context in which learning occurs and the social contexts that learners bring to their learning environment were put centre stage. A short film entitled Event digestion, a pedagogic filmic picnic, where students came together to form a community event, highlighted this process. This process was also one of cross-disciplinary staff team-working within art and design where research work is enhanced through creating a more open social experiential learning environment. The research methodology is a predominantly qualitative one through problem solving and action research. It is also situated within a pedagogic research-informed teaching approach where teaching draws upon enquiry into the teaching and learning process itself (Jenkins & Healey, 2005). Methods incorporated have been cross-cultural international focus groups attended by students, ’unstructured’ interviews, student case studies and, importantly, practice-based work. The paper highlights how an active educational model can be developed through learning by doing (Gibbs, 1998) and thinking (Ramsden, 2003), however, coming from a perspective which addresses creativity across cultures (Lubart), is cross-disciplinary, and, importantly, by a practicebase collaborative international team project approach. The practical pedagogic findings will be of use to anyone working in design education wishing to develop cross-cultural curricula through practice-based learning and research

Binar Space Program: Binar-1 Results and Lessons Learned

The Binar Space Program is a recently formed space research and education group part of the Space Science and Technology Center at Curtin University in Western Australia. Recently launching the first CubeSat from the state, Binar-1, the team is making steps towards creating a sustainable mission schedule for research and education. The Binar-1 mission primary objective was to demonstrate the custom designed systems made by PhD students and engineers at the university. The main technology being demonstrated was the integrated Binar CubeSat Core, which compacted the Electrical Power System, Attitude Determination and Control System, and flight computer system into 0.25U. Alongside this, the team also aimed to learn about end-to-end spacecraft mission design and engage with the public to build an understanding of the importance of space industry and research in the country. Binar-1 was deployed from the International Space Station on the 6th of October 2021, and initially was silent for 15 days until the Binar team was able to make contact by enabling a secondary beacon. This paper will present the Binar-1 mission including the custom design, operations, failure analysis, and results before finally summarizing the lessons learned by the team while flying Western Australia’s first space capability

Primary care micro-teams: an international systematic review of patient and healthcare professional perspectives

Background: International trends have shifted to creating large general practices. There is an assumption that interdisciplinary teams will increase patient accessibility and provide more cost-effective, efficient services. Micro-teams have been proposed to mitigate for some potential challenges of practice expansion, including continuity of care. Aim: To review available literature and examine how micro-teams are described, and identify opportunities and limitations for patients and practice staff. Design and setting: This was an international systematic review of studies published in English. Method: Databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Scopus) and grey literature were searched. Studies were included if they provided evidence about implementation of primary care micro-teams. Framework analysis was used to synthesise identified literature. The research team included a public contributor co-applicant. The authors conducted stakeholder discussions with those with and without experience of micro-team implementation. Results: Of the 462 studies identified, 24 documents met the inclusion criteria. Most included empirical data from healthcare professionals, describing micro-team implementation. Results included characteristics of the literature; micro-team description; range of ways micro-teams have been implemented; reported outcomes; and experiences of patients and staff. Conclusion: The organisation of primary care has potential impact on the nature and quality of patient care, safety, and outcomes. This review contributes to current debate about care delivery and how this can impact on the experiences and outcomes of patients and staff. This analysis identifies several key opportunities and challenges for future research, policy, and practice

Innovative Design Concept for the New Bangkok International Airport, NBIA

Thermal and visual comfort for the occupants of a room are not defined by air temperature only, but also radiation with its three components solar radiation, daylight and heat radiation has to be taken into account (among other factors such as humidity, air speed and occupant activity and clothing levels). In hot climates the optimization of room comfort is a challenging task due to the high solar radiation over the whole year. In intelligent buildings new material developments are applied optimizing the building envelope in an integral building design process. New solutions for weather, noise and heat protection are developed, where building envelope and installed mechanical equipment work together creating optimal comfort at minimum energy consumption. This approach was used in the design of the New Bangkok International Airport, NBIA to develop an optimized building concept in a design team comprising the architects, structural and mechanical engineers, HVAC, acoustic and climate engineers

Health and safety training in 3D

Describes how Clipper Logistics Group, a pan-European retail and high value logistics specialist applied its unrivalled retail and fashion logistics expertise, including consolidation centres, and pre-retail e-fulfilment, to take on the role of 'critical friend' and support a team of academics from Anglia Ruskin and London Metropolitan Universities in developing a Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Seed Corn funded three dimensional (3D) warehouse in the popular virtual world Web site 'Second Life'. Discusses how creating an online warehouse with a number of design and operational flaws can help to train people in occupational health and safety issues and bridge the gap of time and space for international students or students with learning disabilities

Journeyman International - Kilimbi Community Center and Eco-Lodge - Rwanda, Africa

This project based senior project is an interdisciplinary partnership with a non-profit called Journeyman International (JI) and students from the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). Journeyman International worked Empowering Villages and our design team to design a community center, eco-lodge, and guest houses to enable the local population to take advantage of a tourism heavy area creating jobs and income. Empowering Villages objective is to empower, train, and build up the people they work with and hope to someday see Villages around the world become self-sufficient by working with locals to determine their economic and social needs, and then designing spaces that cater to these needs. The students from the college of Architecture and Environmental Design at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo designed the buildings and compiled a preconstruction package for the project. This paper highlights the preconstruction package and includes preliminary information on the following: conceptual and final estimates, construction schedule, hazard and risk assessment, material take offs, phasing plan, scope analysis, site logistics plan, SWPP plan, and a utilities analysis

Learning Sustainability with EPS@ISEP – Development of an Insectarium

8th International Symposium on Project Approaches in Engineering Education (PAEE)Sustainability plays a key role in EPS@ISEP programme - the European Project Semester programme at the School of Engineering of the Polytechnics of Porto. Not just the environmental, but also economical (marketing) and social (ethics) perspectives are explored by multicultural teams during this one semester capstone/internship programme. In 2015, a team of EPS@ISEP students choose to design and develop an insectarium to grow insects for reptile feeding. The team, after exploiting the topic, contemplated growing insects not only for animal feed, but also for human food. Their motivation resulted from the fact that insects, when compared with traditional sources of protein, are more sustainable, i.e., require considerably less resources per kg of protein. This approach, in the current Earth’s population growth scenario, contributes to minimise the resources required for meeting food needs. The main goal of the proposal was to raise the awareness of the participants regarding sustainable development while creating a functional, cost-effective, ecofriendly and attractive prototype. The team, driven by this multidisciplinary problem, performed: (i) a survey of competing products; (ii) a selection of the insect species to grow based on the study and comparison of the life cycle and habitat requirements of different species of insects; (iii) a marketing plan; (iv) a sustainability and an ethic and deontological analysis of the proposed solution; and (v) the design, assembling and testing of the prototype. Furthermore, the students also developed cross-cultural understanding, teamwork and communication skills. The project provided an excellent opportunity to foster the concept of sustainable development amongst the students