Fall Semester 2015-16

It's been a busy semester! Here are some of the things that we did in the design classroom first semester this year.  Just about all of the photos are from a grade 9 Design & Fabrication course - intro level, survey of a little of everything, just the basics. More to come from second semester!

STEM Study Night at Fab Cafe Shibuya

Takehiro Hagiwara (MESH), Aki Kawana (Loftwork), Youka Watanabe (FabLab Kamakura), me!, Matt Krebs (anthropologist), Clint Hamada (Yokohama International School)

I was excited to be asked to participate in the presentations and panel discussion for the STEM Study Night at the Fab Cafe in Shibuya in December.  I shared an overview of our K-12 design program and its use of Design Thinking, and participated in the panel discussion Q&A at the end of the session.  

The evening was well attended, with presentations and the following format: 

Moderator: Youka Watanabe 19: 00 - 7:05 p.m. Youka Watanabe Introduction 19:00 - 19:10 Daisuke Okabe: The Idea of STEM 19:15 - 19:30 

Matt Krebs: FabLabs x Cultural Anthropology in Japan 19:30 - 19:45 

Sarah Sutter: Case Study - The American School in Japan 19:45 - 20:00 

Clint Hamada: Case Study - Yokohama International School 20:15 - 20:30

Bradley Hayes: Case Study - The British School in Tokyo 20: 30 - 8:45 p.m. 

Takehiro Hagiwara: MESH 20:45 - 21:00

Aki Kawana:? What's Creativity 21:00 - 21:30 

Panel Session

 Check out the link to the program with bios of all the presenters. This was one of several preliminary events leading up to the Fab Learn Asia conference later in December, held in Yokohama. More on that to follow!

18th Japan Media Arts Exhibit at the National Art Center, Tokyo

Stopped in to see the 18th Japan Media Arts exhibit at the National Art Center in February. 

The video installation was fascinating - the first thing when you came into the exhibit. 

The Ingress mobile gaming application was interesting too, from Google's Niantic labs. 

(short summary from the award page: Ingress is a mobile application which transforms the real world into a massive multiplayer mobile game based on real-world locations, including cultural landmarks such as public works of art, historical sites, and unique works of architecture. Ingress uses GPS and a global mapping database to merge a fictional world with the real world. )

I also particularly enjoyed an installation with music and dance made to reflect the sounds and audio patterns associated with the making of traditional Japanese crafts (weaving, drum making, woodworking and ceramics). Here are photos of the woodworking examples displayed: 

The guys who were at the Maker Faire with Handiii were also in this exhibit with the prosthetic. They won one of the awards for excellence. Here's the summary: 

"handiii is a myoelectric prosthetic hand designed to offer flexibility and choice. Myoelectric bionic arms are prosthetics that people who have lost limbs can control intuitively through faint electrical signals (myoelectric) in the muscles, which are measured on the skin remaining on the arm."

The key is that they keep the cost down to under ¥30,000 (or $300usd), so it's affordable. 

Pecha Kucha January 2015 (vol. 121)

I finally made it to a Pecha Kucha at Super Deluxe.

So glad I went early - by the time it started it was packed, and by the end there were 450 people or so in attendance.

Vol 121 Pecha Kucha Super Deluxe, Tokyo
Photos by Michael Holmes

The presentations were inspiring - some more than others, but on the whole a positive evening. The Vol 121 event page is here.
The ones that stuck out for me were:

Magnus Celestii : Joseph Walsh Studio

Express Yourself: Sato Sugamoto
Is this a Planetarium: Masashige Iida

The two presentations I thought would be interesting but maybe didn't have the depth or scope I was hoping for were:

Fab Cafe: Kristin Smith

Un-Learning Creativity: Steve Baker & Project Esin


Here are the other photos from the event photographer.

Maker Faire Tokyo

Maker Faire Tokyo
November 2014

I spent a fun day at Maker Faire Tokyo, surrounded by innovations and inspirations in a variety of media, function and purpose. 
(photos below are from my flickr set, if you prefer to view them that way)

In search of ideas for instruction . . . Coursera Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society

In hopes of finding some inspiration for a throughline of incorporating design thinking with actual product / object design, I found a Coursera offering that seemed to fit the bill. Karl Ulrich taught Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society which gave me a great example of how to incorporate the design process from idea / brainstorming / need finding stage right through several revisions of an actual object. 

Here is the link to my blog from that 8 week course with my weekly reflections, processes, drawing exercises and photographs of the product created. 

(Drawing exercises and orthographic projection)

Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society

Combine fundamental concepts with hands-on design challenges to become a better designer.

by Karl T. Ulrich ,  University of Pennsylvania