collaborate on creative projects
April Hawkins
Staff Writer
Mechanical engineering students joined environmental design students Tuesday to present Chindogu projects that they collaborated on.
The special challenge of Chindogu was to create a project that required, among other things, that the project be useful (but not really possible to use), humorous and creative.
Jason Whipple, an engineering major, and Lillian Rivera and Melinda Crouch, design majors, created a shoe with a removable heel constructed to hold cosmetics.
Engineering students Mark Turner and Jesse Fillyaw worked with design student Jacqueline Yarbrough to create a mouse mixer built from a treadmill meant to be immersed into food. By running on the treadmill, the mice would stir the food.
Kenny McDade from the design class worked with engineering students Sandra Geffert and Oscar Ianuzzi to create image-enhancing glasses.
"I've enjoyed this project. It's creative and inventive at the same time."
McDade said, "It's also innovative because it uses engineering and design all in one aspect."
"Our collaboration was the result of a larger interdisciplinary initiative between the art and engineering departments," said UH associate professor of art Angela Patton.
Richard Bannerot, UH professor of mechanical engineering, said,"This gives the students an opportunity to see the differences in how engineering and design students approach problem solving."
"It's important to realize that a good method of problem solving is a mixture of both worked together," Bannerot said. "The issue with this project is creativity and humor."
The main idea behind involving the engineering class with the design class is to talk about design in general and how to develop an idea, not just to finish a product, Bannerot said.
"This is probably the only engineering class that will be targeted towards rewarding creativity."