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Intro. I had 3 wonderful things happen a few few weeks ago,
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Intro • I had 3 wonderful things happen a few few weeks ago, • My colleague, George, stopped me in the hall and asked me to work with him to try to articulate ideas on String Theory. I was flattered, and gladly got busy. A few days later, Dr. George Smoot won the Noble Prize in Physics. Affirmation that I am hanging out with the right crowd. Plus I started getting treated really well at work. • The New York Times sent their star Science writer, Richard Panek, to see my Satellite mock-up, and interview our project team on the Search for Dark Energy, I am again flattered. Affirmation that I am doing something that matters on a grand scale. • The DAI Department invited me to address you at this 50 th anniversary, Once again I am flattered. Affirmation that I might have done something right in the eyes of my peers.
Before DAI, Abroad Military service then work abroad in Africa and Southeast Asia. Hodge-podge education, Lots of schools: Sinclair College Gen studies U of M Engineering and Physics Prince Georges College Computer Science, Art U of Heidleburg German Syracuse U Russian, Lang.,Lit., Area studies. DAI at SFSU Design in the Bush. A scenario: Two or three of us go to a remote site, set up a base, and hire and train locals as survey and mapping crews. We would then explore and map possible road routes. The base would evolve into an office. Draftsmen and engineering technicians were trained, and a rudimentary soils lab was set up. Crews were retrained to Drill and take soil and core samples. Then a detailed road design was carried out, costed, and put out for bid. Same treatment for Water works, Dock facilities, Communications sites, and Airstrips. Basic Pattern: Head into the Unknown with the best map you have. Expect it to be wrong. Assemble a local team with the skills you need. Keep it small by overlapping skills. Take along a general toolbox with the tools and techniques designed for your task. Explore multiple options. Keep a sharp eye on your resources and constantly assess where you are compared to where you need to be. Do it, clean up, and come home. Africa adventures ran until interrupted by the Biafra revolution. Southeast Asia adventures ran until I got married and returned to the US.
Before DAI, in the US • More design work on highways and municipal airports. Then, • Entrepreneurial Ventures: • My wife and traded roles back and forth: I would have a day job while she tried out an idea, She would hold a day job while I launched some crazy venture. I also went to school, she also had our son. • Made instruments, fabricated assemblies in wood, metal, plastics and heavy steel. Created jigs and fixtures and did small-run production. Did graphics, commercial printing, rudimentary computer programming, and built gizmos in the garage. I was at various times, partner, contractor, collaborator, or sole proprietor. ( But mostly, husband, father, and student.) • Science beckons: • Starting with the Molecular Physics Institute at U of M and continuing to the Fire Research Lab and Engineering geoscience at UC Berkeley, my fascination with the laboratory environment and the hands-on experimental imperative is reflected in a string of job titles: Machinist, instrument maker, lab tech, project lead, designer, engineer, and occasionally manager. • Later my role included that of Client. I contracted lab facilities and ran my own experiments with my own crew.* • *after DAI
During DAI • Flurry of creative energy focused on actually producing some THING, some tangible product or process. • “The Big Picture” A deliberate Interdisciplinary approach that brought facets of a project together, and a process orientation that defined the necessary steps to take to achieve that THING. • Collaborative environment that multiplied the creative options and expanded the scope of a project beyond what a single person could achieve. • Banished the fear of failure. • Iterative design process gave first-hand experience that exposed flaws in the design, and showed the value of incremental improvements at limiting risk and improving the design. • Engendered the fear of not finding enough flaws early enough ! • End-to-end Design cycle. • Exercised the components needed to take an idea from a vague wish, or air-drawing to a real, tangible solution that satisfied the original intention. • Ideas turned into sketches and drawings, which became models, which evolved into prototypes, which got tested and evaluated, and refined, and promoted. • The tools were available and ready • Creative strategies and techniques generated floods of ideas, options, and possibilities • Research, organization, and evaluation techniques put the ideas into a practical context and pointed the way toward executing a plan. • Sketch and drawing techniques articulated the ideas and detailed the attributes and processes. • Modeling, machining, and production facilities brought concepts into tangible reality. • Writing, illustration and media brought the final product to the rest of the world for the acid test; ‘Does the Universe appreciate your poetry?’
I got from DAI: • A template to frame ANY process- A way to create a map from HERE to THERE. • The tools to articulate and realize a process- The basic experience of getting from HERE to THERE. • The Interdisciplinary and Cultural flexibility to apply the template to my goals in the larger world. • The notion that a Designer is one who can articulate possible futures and act to make them come to be. • Anything is possible
After DAI • Westedge • At first, it was an extension of the idealized DAI environment, a mini-version. • Was a rich, creative idea factory fueled by our own and other products and projects. • A workshop for wild ideas and more formal experiments. • Over time, it morphed and expanded into a variety of ventures, projects, processes, and other companies. (mention Bob as well as the Acryl-Hinge here?) • Product design and short run production, prototypes from cookie cutters and packaging to Medical Instruments and electro-mechanical systems. • Grants and privately funded Basic and Applied research, lab testing, field testing, focus groups, feasibility studies and project planning. • Special Projects • Fast, broad collaborations; forensic investigation and analysis, full-scale laboratory testing, courtroom presentations and models. • STAR WARS models
SNAP • http://www-eng.lbl.gov/~lafever/SNAP/Snap_20/Graphics/A3graphics/fig.Orbit-1.jpg
