Expanding Innovation
This week we had four presentations that focused on how 3D printing is revolutionizing the world, information on the different maker resources around campus, and an in-depth guide into the Human-Centered Design process. Our first presenter was Sneha from Illini Service Dogs. Her presentation focused on opportunities for our class to help make tailored solutions to Illini service dogs. While our group is currently focused on making a protective cover for Jenna’s leg, if for some reason this plan falls through, Illini Service Dogs would be a great partner to pivot too.
John Hornick presents to the class 
Sneha shares opportunities to work with Illini Service Dogs
Our next speaker was John Hornick, author of the book 3D Printing Will Rock the World, and a global speaker on 3D printing. John’s talk focused on how innovation, democratization, and customization of 3D printing is revolutionizing many different industries. A key pillar of his talk focused on the spread of 3D printing to the masses. He told a story about a 5-year-old named Cameron Haight who has 3D printed attachments for his prosthetic hand and also has 3D printed prosthetics for other kids suffering from similar conditions. With the spread of 3D printing to more people, it allows for people’s ideas to flourish and for innovation to occur. A perfect example of this is our class and the maker lab at the Gies College of Business. By giving students a space to explore 3D printing technologies and teaching them human-centered design methods, our class is fostering innovation.
Exploring Campus Resources
Our next speaker was Jeff Ginger, who runs the Fab Lab at the University of Illinois. I had been to the Fab Lab once before for a school project, but I had no idea how many resources the Fab Lab has to offer. Jeff talked a lot about how the Fab Lab and the Makerlab were working with other maker spaces on campus to try and open up resources to all students and not just those in certain programs or majors. I thought this was a very noble idea and tied in well to the democratization of resources and innovation that John talked about. I also had no idea how prevalent Fab Labs were worldwide. The UIUC Fab Lab is part of a network of hundreds of Fab Labs worldwide that work to share best practices and to give maker resources to as many people as others. I especially resonated with the Fab Lab motto “Don’t DIY, Do it with others” because I thought that it perfectly embodied the collaborative nature of making.
Trying It Out
We spent the rest of class working with our teams to better identify the need we were working to solve. We used information from our interviews to fully understand all facets of the need before we dove into the solution. Initially we wrote out everything we could think of on post it notes and put them on the wall. The next step was to group the thoughts so that we could identify the mian characteristics of the need. Our group’s categories were feelings, customization, function, and protection (shown below). I had done an exercise similar to this in a previous class and I found it a very good way to encourage collaboration and creativity when discussing a problem in groups.
This week we are continuing to finish up our need group interviews and I am looking forward to begin designing in Fusion 360 in class on Wednesday!
I am a Senior majoring in Finance with a minor in the Hoeft Technology & Management Program.
Nathan,
This week was full of new and exciting information. The guest speakers we had in class really sparked a lot of inspiring on some pretty interesting topics. I like all of the cool projects the 3D industries producing. I also found this exercise to be helpful. As an industrial designer I’ve taken design thinking classes and readily use this methodology on a day to day basis. The core principles that we as designers embody are at the core of this class. I think it’s really cool all the techniques that are the same in my professional practice.
Hi Nathan, I am impressed by your post and echo with many of your points. For the speech presented by John Hornick, I was touched by many of the examples. One thing that I noticed was that he introduced researches conducted across the globe. The significant effort dedicated by schools, labs, or individuals around the world enables the spread of innovation. Without all those people’s dedication, we would not be able to see the change in our technology and the world.
I like Fab Lab’s motto “DIWO” (Do It with Others) as well. I genuinely believe in the impact of collaboration, and this motto clearly demonstrates how creativity can be generated from collaboration.