Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
My new Design logo
Thinking about and collecting materials, lectures, examples, etc. for presentation, publication, or both.
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Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Friday, November 29, 2013
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
The Maker Movement...post to my course in Design 101
If you are not familiar with The Maker Movement (Do it Yourself - DIY), TechShops, Maker Faires, Make Magazine, and related topics, do yourself a favor and check it out. This is NOT limited to using 3D printers, or hobby collectives. It is a big, international movement, and your town would benefit by having a community make shop, equipped with all kinds of tools, accomplished instructors and coaches, and a "hook" into local schools, community centers, service clubs, youth groups, senior groups, etc.
Monthly or annual fees provide access to a number of tools that the home shop may find too expensive (laser cutters, 3D printers, etc. [Here is a list at a typical TechShop: http://www.techshop.ws/tools_and_equipment.html ] The nearest shop to me is @96km away, so I'm waiting for something to sprout here.
BTW, learning materials and methods is an enormous part of learning design and engineering. I recall a full semester course at The San Francisco Art Institute in Materials and Methods...including making our own gesso/egg tempera paint and painting with it.
Sometimes, it's quicker, easier and cheaper to hire an expert for a few hours to teach you something special. It is an alternative to taking a college class, and you can get at the thing you want to know about that much faster. For example...learning how to make a mold and use it to cast something in resin...or, as I did, learning how to heat and shape metal with a homemade furnace made with charcoal, an old brake drum and the forced air from a small vacuum cleaner.
Wikihow wikihow.com is another good resource. For example, this post on metal tempering and hardening. The illustrations are clear and simple...something to strive for in any kind of documentation, of course.
Do you know how to tie useful knots? Animated knots shows you how. I use the bowline frequently:http://www.animatedknots.com/bowline/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com Animated how-tos are my preference over videos of more complicated directions.
Today's quiz/research question for my friends: What is Sugru? What could YOU do with a packet? I've used it for several little repairs and "gadgets".
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Monday, November 4, 2013
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Monday, September 30, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Subject: Applied Engineering
Subject: Applied Engineering
[Creativity, Innovation and Change]
Thank you to Scott from Oregon for this story.
------------------------------------------------------------
A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket don’t get upset and buy another product instead.
Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.
The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.
A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” – he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.
It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers came back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren't picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.
Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed.
A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes off the belt and into a bin.
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Friday, September 20, 2013
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Richard Turere: My invention that made peace with lions | Video on TED.com
Richard Turere: My invention that made peace with lions | Video on TED.com
This young man is beautiful, and I wish him all the best.
This young man is beautiful, and I wish him all the best.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Pretotyping
Alberto Savoia, Google's Innovation Agitator and Engineering Director, presents "The Pretotyping
Manifesto" at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. January 2012.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday, August 5, 2013
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Creativity, Innovation, and Change | Coursera
Creativity, Innovation, and Change | Coursera
I signed up for this course from Penn State. It begins in September, and it looks like it may be an interesting course and an appropriate follow up to my on line class in Design Thinking from Stanford < https://venture-lab.org/designthinking >
I signed up for this course from Penn State. It begins in September, and it looks like it may be an interesting course and an appropriate follow up to my on line class in Design Thinking from Stanford < https://venture-lab.org/designthinking >
Saturday, July 27, 2013
James L. Adams (JimAdamsSU) on Twitter
James L. Adams (JimAdamsSU) on Twitter Prof. Adams is at Stanford. We met for a drink at the faculty lounge, back in the 80's.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Why don't you do art anymore?
A friend was asked why, as she replied: "I am not sure I have any answers as to why I don't do art anymore. Where is the desire and the drive to create? Do I need an audience? Do I need more time alone? Do I need more like minded people around me? Am I running out of energy? Am I too busy doing other things? Am I bored with what I do? Do I spend too much time on the Internet? How can I get focus back---I do seem a bit scattered? Is there a point to or purpose in what I do? Does it matter? Maybe all these questions, plus probably others, actually reveal the reasons for such a hiatus from creating. So, in the twilight of my years, I question whether it makes a difference to me or others. I don't know."
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Our new Creative Juijitsu Flipbook is in process
Watch this space for an announcement to view and/or purchase this Flipbook.
-tp
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
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