Author: Maryam Siddique

Gies College of Business || May 2019 Supply Chain Management & Information Systems/Information Technology
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Did we Evinco? e-portfoilo​ by Maryam

To explain the title, Evinco is the latin word for prevail or overcome. (“Did we prevail?”) However, it is also the word that my team chose to represent our project this semester. We worked with Arielle Rausin as our mentor and tried to overcome challenges in Paralympic wheelchair racing.

At the beginning of this course, I expected to focus a lot more on 3D printing. My group was very worried because we weren’t sure how we would 3D print something that related to our project idea and goals. Our goal was to improve an athlete’s grip during undesirable weather conditions. However, besides the practice with Fusion 360 we did very little 3D printing in this class. The experience was also different because we were assigned mentors. I think personally, I expected to be able to design a product myself or with a team. However, after we were presented mentors it really focused our efforts. I think this was a good thing because we were able to make an impact. However, it also was very hard in the beginning because we really had to understand the experience of the mentors and work on an empathetic design approach.

I think I learned a lot about myself this semester. When I entered the class I greatly doubted my design capabilities. However, I quickly realized that I actually have valuable design experience from my T&M classes! I already knew what a design brainstorm was and was able to use my imagination to think outside the box. Also, I was able to learn more about empathetic design. I know Professor Deanna was talking about a class she leads in empathetic design and how she has her students put on blindfolds and use walking canes for a day. I thought this was really interesting and I wish I could have taken a class about empathetic design in college.

I don’t know where to begin when recapping everything I learned over the semester! My first post was about our class visit to DRES. This was when I first met my mentor for the semester Arielle and learned about her previous experience in the same class. I also learned about her company, Ingenium which was the basis and the inspiration for our class! https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-2-reflection-2/

Week 3 was when we first started learning about design thinking and had an introduction from milestone labs. One of my big takeaways was a design can almost always be improved. Milestone did a great job of pointing out how people come up with design hacks daily and just because these hacks work, it doesn’t mean they are necessarily the best version. https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-3-reflection/

During Week 4 I learned a lot for my project. We create our team name, logo and used Arielle’s company Ingenium as our inspiration. However, we also went to DRES to visit the team during one of their practices. Here are some of my notes that were key learnings for my team. “The first thing that was helpful to learn was that the hand ring is re-gripped about every 3 months. The ring is unscrewed from the wheel and a tire tubing is placed around the ring. Contact cement is used to attach the tubing and it is heat activated for a heat gun has to be used to pull the tubing off. It is about a 4-hour process to change the grip and it has to dry for a day. Elisa asked if there was a company that changed the grips and we were all shocked to find that there was none. All the athletes have to learn to change the grip themselves and some of them will even pay their other team members to do it for them.” https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-4-evinco/

Week 5 was our first project brainstorming session. I remember Adam attended our class that day and our team got a little off topic because Adam was so excited about our project! He had all these amazing ideas and we are so appreciative that he shared them with our team! https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/evinco-week-5-applications-of-3d-printing/(opens in a new tab)

Week 6 is when we started learning about 3D printing and got the opportunity to try our Fusion 360. This was one of my favorite weeks because this related to my overall expectations for the class and my desire to learn technical skills. https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-6-team-envinco-fusion/

Week 7, 8 and 9 were spent at the Fab Lab. We spent time getting trained on the different tools and had the opportunity to build a watch that was meant for users who need physical therapy on their hands or wrist. You can see the steps we took in the three posts below. https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/a-lab-that-is-truly-fabulous/

https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-8-sewing-pros/(opens in a new tab)

https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-9-watch-what-we-can-do/(opens in a new tab)

Week 10 for me was the least productive. I had to miss our class session for my Supply Chain class. However, our team did do some research on what was currently in the market. This ended up not being super successful because there were no products related to wheelchair racing in the market and we looked at normal wheelchairs. https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-10-making-moves/(opens in a new tab)

Week 11 was preparations leading up to the makeathon and week 12 was the makeathon. These are the weeks where I learned the most in this class. Leading up to the makeathon we researched materials and met with a material science professor. We gained super valuable information for our project and I wish we had more time to do actual reserach and preparations because then our team would have been able to order a more specific material. https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/week-11-pre-make-a-thon/

https://digitalmaking.web.illinois.edu/spring2019/make-a-thon-success/(opens in a new tab) 

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Make-a-thon Success!

Our team was very happy with the prototype we were able to make last weekend at the make-a-thon. As a member of Team Evinco, we were workign with Arielle to try to increase an athlete’s grip during difficult weather conditions. We went into the make-a-thon with one specific goal however, as the weekend progressed we realized we shouldn’t constraint our design ideas and capabilites by focusing on this specific how can we statement!

The original water resistant materials we ordered were a yoga mat and a bath mat. However, we decided we could incorporate another how can we statement into our design and try to create a cover that could be easily attached before a race. Therefore, our team decided to use snap enclosures on our prototype. However, we quickly realized:

  1. Our materials were too weak for the snap enclosures to work properly
  2. Both materials wore down very fast during our testing session
  3. The materials were too bulky to properly wrap around the ring the way we had imagined.
Image of the yoga mat worn down after our test. To test the material we wet the yoga mat and then mimic the damage caused by racing by rubbing the glove against the yoga mat multiple times. After about 2 or 3 “racing strokes” the yoga mat began to flake off into pieces.
Final prototype for the different covers we made for the hand ring. Also tried different wrapping techniques to try to see if we could create an easier, faster process for athlete’s when coating the handring.

Therefore, our team had to get creative and we began borrowing materials from other teams. We even found a dip plastic one of the teams had purchased and decided to coat an aluminum hand ring in this plastic. As a final prototype, we would be interested to see if it would be possible to also coat the rubber on the glove with the dip plastic to improve traction in bad weather conditions. This is because our materials science Professor informed us that the great traction would be created if the material on the glove and the hand ring were the same. We also believe this will significantly reduce the time necessary to wrap the hand ring and make the process easier for athletes!

Aluminum hand ring coated partially with one layer of the dip plastic.

Overall, we got really positive feedback from the athletes who attended the make-a-thon. We learned they had not tried a variety of our ideas and while some did not seem promising they thought certain ideas could actually be really successful! We can’t wait to get more feedback from Arielle and Adam!

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Week 11 Pre-Make-a-thon

This week in preparation for the make-a-thon in class we planned out what materials we would need and what we wanted to prototype. Our group decided that we would work on creating a way for the cover on the hand ring to be more easily replaced. This is turn would allow the team to experiment with materials.

Our idea is to use snap enclosures to experiment with different materials on the hand ring to identify which can help improve an athletes’ grip in bad weather conditions. In order to attach the snap enclosures, we found one with screws and we plan to drill into the aluminum ring. This is the part we are most unsure of for our plan and if anyone has any advice or can help please let us know!

In terms of materials, we are starting by using a latex free TPE which is the material in yoga mats. We decided it would be easiest to order a thin yoga mat to experiment with during the make-a-thon. Yoga mat’s are slip resistant so we are interested to see how this works. We also are ordering a bath mat for a more durable water resistant material.

Finally, Elisa and I were able to meet with Dr. Goodman, our old material science professor to get advice for our project. Dr. Goodman gave us a ton of great ideas that we can look into especially for our project in the long term. One of the things I found most interesting was a spray paint for truck beds to protect them from getting wet or ruined. Dr. Goodman suggested seeing if we could buy this spray paint and use it on the ring! It could create a coating in seconds! This is definetly something we want to look into and tell Arielle and Adam about

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[Week 10] Making moves!

This week I had class during our changed class session. I was upset to miss the lead up to the make-a-thon but I expect my team members recruited great students to help us during the event.

As an update on our project, my team is working with Arielle to help improve an athlete’s grip during bad weather conditions. We have different ideas to modify the glove or modify the ring itself. However, we are not sure which of these ideas is the most feasible. Part of what we are still trying to figure out is what material would be best for our product. We also did research before spring break to understand current solutions in the market.

In order to better understand materials, we have reached out to Dr. Goodman who is a Material Science Engineering Professor. For our Technology & Management minor, we took a basic introduction to material science engineering. Dr. Goodman was our Professor and we believe he would have very valuable input for this project. Nathan emailed him on behalf of my team and his team. We are trying to schedule a meeting for next week.

For current market solutions, this was a little difficult for our group to come up with. That is because the current solution is what Arielle told us about – everything is manual and grips need to be replaced around every 3 weeks. Therefore, we research everyday wheelchairs and tried to understand what makes them work well in the rain. We assumed that grip problems would also occur in everyday wheelchairs and we were correct.

This article was really helpful and mentioned a variety of different wheelchairs that are good in the rain. One specific one I want to highlight is the Spinergy FlexRim.

Here is a picture of the spinergy flexrim wheelchair.

This chair uses a urethane material to secure the pushrim and it provides extra traction. The flex strip provides more traction and helps users with carpel tunnel and tennis elbow! Hopefully, with the help of Dr. Goodman we can see if we can apply this technique to racing wheelchairs also.

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How 3D Printing is Revolutionizing Fashion

As 3D printing increases in popularity and becomes more common, many industries are evolving to include the technology. A great example of this that many people do not normally consider is the fashion industry. As a user who was unfamiliar with 3D printing in the beginning of this class, I understand people might not grasp the impact 3D printing plastic can have on fashion. However, 3D printing has major implications for design, texture and innovation for fashion designers. 

A great example of this is LabeledBy a design studio in the Netherlands that works to incorporate innovation into their textiles and garments. The studio strives for personalization and sustainability within the fashion industry. LabeledBy says they have been able to use Ultimaker and 3D printers to make personalized garments that uniquely fit a person’s body. During their interview, LabeledBy explained that the 3D printer they use has been optimized for garments and textiles. The 3D printer can print all materials and they are making even more changes so they can print with more experimental and biodegradable materials. They also make sure to use materials that are suitable or the washing machine! LabeledBy is a great example of a company that is innovating the fashion industry with 3D printing. 

Example of clothing created by LabeledBy

Another great example of 3D printing in the fashion industry is within movie props and costumes. In the movie Black Panther, the costume designed for Queen Ramonda was created with a 3D printer (see picture below). The technique used to create this design was SLS or selective laser sintering. It involved using lasers to heat a powder and fuse the particles together. The particles were fused layer by layer and then the excess filament was removed. A CAD software was used to create the 3D costume and was then tailored for the actress’s specific measurements.

Queen Ramonda’s dress

The designer of the costume, Julia Korner, had previously worked on 3D printed designs for Haute Couture collections (including items for Chanel and Herpen). Haute Couture is the most exclusive, expensive segment of the fashion industry. This segment is so high fashion many people have never even heard of the designers. Even celebrities don’t normally participate in the Haute Couture fashion segment. This segment is meant for true fashion enthusiast who spend millions on a single piece only to never wear it and to save it to be admired for generations. Therefore, it is absolutely crazy to think that 3D printing is invading the Haute Couture fashion segment. This really has the ability to decrease the exclusivity of a fashion piece and allow it to be affordable or within reach for average consumers.  

3D printing has also disrupted the luxury fashion industry and caused many concerns for designers. Luxury fashion is what is still a very high end fashion segment but includes more well-known brands such as Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci and Burberry. There is some overlap between luxury fashion and Haute Couture (example Chanel), but a brand can meet luxury fashion criteria and still not be high end enough for Haute Couture. The biggest concern of luxury brands with the introduction of 3D printing is intellectual property rights infringement. Global import of counterfeit goods is already over $500 billion a year however, with 3D printing luxury brands expect this number to grow. However, the article mentions how it is still important for luxury brands to embrace 3D printing and view the technology as a way to create a personalized product for an affluent customer. 

3D printed outfit on the fashion runway in Vancouver

Personally, I view this shift in the industry as positive and I wish luxury brands would embrace affordability. (I understand this counterattacks the idea of it being a luxury brand.) I believe if everyone has the opportunity to access “luxury” fashion (even if it is 3D printed and “counterfeit”) socioeconomic disparities based on fashion would reduce. Sometimes people are quick to judge based on the clothing and brands a person wears. However, that isn’t fair in my opinion; just because someone does own a Chanel purse it doesn’t mean they are any less of a person. 

3D printing is also helping to increase the sustainability of the fashion industry. Currently, the fashion industry is highly criticized due to large amounts of clothing that end up as waste in landfills. However, with 3D printers’ designers are able to print new designs and create less waste. Designers are also looking into biodegradable clothing that could be 3D printed. According to St. Catherine University researchers, 3D printing has the potential to change the entire fashion industry and allow ready to wear fashion companies to create less waste. Within the shoe industry, 3D printing allows designers to easily prototype and reduce waste associated with making multiple shoe models. 

In class, we were able to understand how 3D printing applies to the fashion industry when we visited the Fab Lab in Champaign, IL. We actually were shown a fabric that had 3D printed thorns on it for a costume. This is only the beginning of the capabilities 3D printers can have for the fashion industry. As people continue to experiment it will be interesting to see how the fashion industry innovates with this technology. 

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[Week 9] Watch what we can do!

This week our class was at the Fab Lab again and we put all the steps to our project together and finally created the working prototype. The product we were prototyping was a watch that is meant for users who are recovering from an injury and need physical therapy. The watch can monitor if a person is actually doing their practice by using motion detectors to detect both an arm twist and curl. In the previous weeks, we learned how to use the arduinos, designed our watch facer using the laser etching machine and sewed a strap for the watch. Now, finally all of that work came together.

We started by programming the Arduino and the two tilt sensors. I had used an Arduino previously but, I had never previously used a tilt sensor and I found this very interesting. We were able to test our code and when one of the sensors was activated the binary code changed from 0 to 1. Below are pictures of this step.

(Picture posted is sideways… I’m sorry I don’t know why this keeps happening!) Here you can see the Arduino being programmed with both tilt sensors!

Next, we started putting the watch together including all 3 separate wooden pieces and the Arduino. I think what was really interesting to be about this was how easy it was to attach the Arduino. We simply used a piece of a glue sticker! I think that because the Arduino is a computer I thought it needed to be completely covered to keep it safe. I realized this isn’t the case and its actually a lot easier to prototype with simple computers than I previously imagined!

Here you can see the Arduino in between the watch faces and held down with two zip ties. The whole at the top of the watch face allowed for the tilt sensors to reach through.

Continuing on with finalizing our watch face. We added on the top layer which held our designs. As I mentioned earlier mine was designed with an athlete in mind. It was meant to be sleek and stylish. I would love feedback though on which symbols you guys think are supposed to mean twist and which symbol is for curl. When I was designing this I thought it was very clear but then I showed my design to one of my friends and he guessed the opposite of what I originally thought. The two symbols are the “curl or spiral” and “ribbon or zigs”!

Here is the watch face top. The spiral I was referring to is under the tilt sensor and the ribbon is the other symbol. Please comment down below which you think is twist and which is curl!

Here is my final watch with the strap attached! I am super proud to have made this prototype and can’t wait for our make-a-thon after spring break!

After this activity, we started creating a storyboard for our projects. My group struggled with understanding how the storyboard would relate to our project idea and products. We are the team working with Arielle to improve an athletes grip during bad weather conditions. We hadn’t really considered selling our products so we weren’t really sure where a user would purchase our product from. However, we decided it would make most sense if Arielle sold our product on her website along with the gloves!

Due to the low image quality and fact that the images keep uploading sideways I will only post the first page of our storyboard.

Moving forward, after spring break we will be reaching our to Dr. Goodman to meet with him and learn about different materials. We will also be working with Elisa’s sculpture professor to understand how we could create a groove in the current hand rings. She said her studio definetly has tools we can use we just might need some training before using them! Also, we are all going to try to finalize which idea we want to pursue for the make-a-thon and meet with Arielle.

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Week 8 Sewing Pros

This week our class was in the Fab Lab again! We started off learning how to use the lasers in the lab and then we created the watch strap by using the sewing machines.

Learning how to use the laser software was really interesting. I liked how easy the different features were like creating different shapes and trying out the color spectrum at the bottom. Also, we learned this trick where you can find a silhouette on google images and trace the image with the software. We practiced this and I used an elephant image. I was also then able to change the color of the traced image! I understand how this could be very helpful when designing. Below is a picture of the trace feature.

(Picture is sideways)

 We then imported a template from the software and designed the watch face. The instructors at the Fab Lab gave us a great tip about keeping your audience in mind when designing. My mentor is Arielle who is a Paralympic athlete so I decided to design my watch face with an athlete in mind. Therefore the look I went for is sleek and elegant. (I will post pictures in a future post when I go to the lab and laser etch my watch face.)

Picture of the watch end product that we will be designing. The watch strap that I mention next is the green fabric on the left side of the picture.

After we created the watch strap. To do this we had to use how to learn the sewing machines. I had never previously used a sewing machine and I am very bad at sewing by hand. However, it wasn’t as intimidating as I expected and I think this was great practice for my team’s prototype. One of our ideas is to try to make a fabric cover for the hand ring. Below I included pictures of our sewing practice. I also found this link with tips and tricks as a beginning using a sewing machine. https://www.seasonedhomemaker.com/sewing-tips-for-beginners/ I really like this article because it links to other pages where you can learn specific tips that would be helpful. The section that explains how to attach buttons with the sewing machine could be helpful for my team when designing a cover. We could create a cover with button closures.

The hardest part using the sewing machine for me was continually having to thread the needle and learning how to control my speed. This is something that I could improve with more practice and that was even getting better as I created my watch strap.

Finally, we were able to show our prototypes to Milestone Labs. They gave us a lot of great feedback. One thing we are doing moving forward is reaching out to Dr. Goodman, a Material Science Engineering Professor to ask for help understanding different materials. There are a couple of other teams also reaching out so we are combining into a big group. (A couple of us had Dr. Goodman as a Professor for our Technology & Management minor.)

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A Lab that is truly Fab(ulous)

This week in class we visited the Fab Lab! I had been to the Fab Lab once before for my work with Illinois Enactus. I was on a project called Grounds for Growth. Our project created an upcycled soap bar with coffee grounds from the shops on campus. We also started using the coffee grounds to make lavender, vanilla and coconut scented scrubs. We used to use the machines at the Fab Lab to print stickers for our coffee scrub jars and soap bars! However, even though I had been to the Fab Lab before, I didn’t even realize how big the Fab Lab is and I had no idea there were multiple floors. I also did not realize the large variety of tools and resources the Fab Lab provides.

We first took a tour of the Fab Lab and learned about the different tools. It was really interesting to see the different applications and uses people had come up with for all the tools. For example, we saw a mask, LED light screen, trophy and camera that people had designed (see in the picture below).

(Picture is sideways)

Next, we split up into groups and worked on two separate projects. I was in the group learning about circuits and LEDs. In my T&M minor, we took an ECE class last year and we learned about circuits, LEDs and Arduino. However, the refresher we received at the Fab Lab was very helpful. We constructed a circuit and learn how different resistors affect the LED. A more powerful resistor makes the light less bright. From my background in my ECE class I understand that is because the battery provides a voltage to the circuit. V=IR with I = current and R = resistance. Therefore, if the battery is providing the same voltage, with a higher resistance the current flowing through the circuit would be decreased making the LED dimmer.

(Here is a picture of my simple circuit without any of the resistors. The picture is sideways)

After that, we got back into our groups and started the ideation phase of our project! Our goal was to create as many ideas as possible and to sketch the ideas out on a sheet of paper. We then ranked the ideas by most feasible, easiest and most impactful. Ultimately, my group was able to narrow it down to a couple main ideas. We are the team working with Arielle and trying to improve racing conditions for athletes in undesirable weather conditions. Below is a picture or our ideations sketches.

(Picture is sideways)

The ideas that we decided on our first to create a piece that can attach to the glove to help athletes in the rain. Second, we want to experiment with printing either the entire glove or parts of the glove with TPU filament to create a more flexible glove. Next, we are considering trying to create a C shaped cover that can snap onto the ring and can have increased grip for when racing in the rain. Finally, we would try to connect the ring with the glove somehow and great a grove/lock system to increase grip. This idea is what we said was most effective however, we are worried it wouldn’t necessarily be super feasible.

Moving forward, we will be prototyping these ideas and trying to decide which idea is feasible and effective to implement. For the future lessons, it would be helpful for our team to understand different materials that we can have access to with this project. Especially if we are trying to increase the grip on the hand ring we will need to find a strong, durable material to use with our prototypes!

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[Week 6 Team Envinco] Fusion

This week we learned how to use Fusion from the Professionals at Autodesk. I really enjoyed gaining exposure to the software and making the phone holder. The only software I have used previously is SketchUp and SolidWorks. I used SketchUp in my TAM class last semester to create a 3D CAD model of a bridge. The model was made out of popsicle sticks so we didn’t gain that much exposure to the software. It was mostly using the popsicle stick model our Professor provided us with and copying/arranging the sticks.

I used SolidWorks for fun with a friend Freshman year. I wanted to gain exposure to 3D printing and he offered to show me how the software worked. I create a present for my younger brother. He is a drummer so it was a little 3D drum with his initials engraved in it. I do not have a picture of it anymore but it was a really fun project.

For the Fusion project, originally I was unable to download the software. I followed along on a friends computer until mine finally started working. I really enjoyed making the phone holder especially the parts at the end where you could customize the material. It was interesting how sometimes we would follow the steps, but we still had trouble modifying the design. I think this was especially surprising because CAD softwares are very particular and finicky. In most of my classes, I’m more used to using excel which is relatively straightforward. Below I have attached some photos of the process that our class followed.

Our results of our project ideation were to focus on comfort and making a product that was customizable. I think the first time we did our stories & experiences brainstorm we didn’t understand how to choose words that reflected experiences. We focused on positives and negatives however, this time we were really able to narrow in on words that can help us to properly brainstorm.

We really want to try to find a way to help athletes with the issue of slippage during bad weather conditions. This can cause a lot of discomfort and Adam helped us to understand how sometimes the athelete can train really hard, however, still at the end of the day for reasons outside of their control they won’t win. These reasons can often be the weather. Therefore, we focused our statements on this idea.

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[Week 5] Evinco – Applications of 3D Printing

This week in class we had two guest speakers. The first talk we had was from John. He mentioned the different applications of 3D printing including bio printing. This was fascinating and we talked about so many different applications including 3D printing robotic soft robotic hands for prosthetics and much more. We also had the head of the fab lab, Jeff, come to speak to us. It was really interesting to hear about all of the different making communities around Urbana Champaign. I thought it was really cool how the fab lab is meant to be for everyone in the community not just students. Jeff mentioned how homeless people have come into the fab lab before to design things. I was also really cool to hear that the fab lab had tools for digital embroidery. The fab lab is also working to develop a bio printer.

Later in class we conducted a stories & experience brainstorm. This was very helpful and Adam helped us to categorize our stories. We ended up creating two cateogries. The first was a frustrations and loss of opportunity category. The second was a potential opportunities category. I have attached a picture below of our final sheet.

I think the stories brainstorm was very helpful. We were able to better understand the experiences of the Paralympic athletes. I think especially focusing on the positives helped us to understand how we can use the rules to our benefit and create a hand ring that is different from a typical hand ring. The example Adam was explaining was that you could create a hand ring that is two different diameters. This could then help if we were creating a covering or casing because we could create two separate coverings or grips. I think it’s good that my team decided to create a category that focuses on the positives. In the HBR Design Thinking article, it mentions how one of the personality traits of a design should be optimism. I believe we were all trying to properly embrace this personality trait in our design philosophy.

I think the project brainstorm was a great way to start thinking about what is the specific experience or story we want to tackle. There are so many different ways we can approach this project, but what would be most beneficial and feasible. I am excited for the idea generation phase to see what tangible product ideas we can come up with. I think our group is going to be able to make a positive impact with our product and I am very excited!