Presentations are the story of your project - from early sketches and inspiration, through prototypes and more developed ideas, presentations highlight the pieces of the process that led each student to their latest project.

Prompt

In this assignment, you will compile and create your final presentation, which will become part of your online portfolio of work, able to be shared with the public.

Instructions

In this activity, you will create your final presentation using the template below.

Create a post in the Responses tab above. This post has two components: the visual presentation and the written project description. Each component is outlined below and should be included in the same post.

Deliverable 1: Visual Presentation

Slide 1: Final Photograph with Project title and Team member names 

Slide 2: Evocative Image (an image that highlights the kind of experience you want your project to provide viewers)

Slide 3: Thesis Statement (1-2 sentence project statement that explains the overall idea of your project)

Slides 4: Green Energy Research 

Slide 5: Precedent Image(s) that inspired your project

Slide 6: Initial 2-3 Sketch Models (shared in your midterm presentation)

Slide 7: Diagrams

Slide 8:  Final Project Photographs

Slide 9 (optional):1 gif or video of your final project in motion

Slide 10: "Thank You" slide. 

Deliverable 2: Project Statement

The Project Statement is a 1-2 paragraph project description that explains the overall idea of your project to someone who is unfamiliar with the topic. Below is a series of key points to consider as you write this final project description. 

Things to consider:

1. The what is a clear statement of the overall idea/thesis.
2. The why explains how your project changes the world. It is the reason your project exists – what social issue is it engaging, who is your project helping, how does the project change the world, and what important social, intellectual, or technical questions does it raise? The scope of the why can vary widely.
3. The how briefly explains what technical prowess, innovative methods, or cool materials you used in your solution.
4. The who explains who will use your design, why they will use it, and in what context.
5. Think of the reader - it is good to imagine that a university admissions officer AND a potential employer in the field of your design should both be able to understand and be excited by the project based on your writing.

Prompt

Designers represent their ideas through many different means: drawings, photographs, renderings, scale models, prototypes, and more. Each method presents specific advantages for highlighting different aspects of the concept and proposed execution.

Instructions

In this assignment, we will learn about different types of diagrams, and how we can use each one to further communicate the ideas of your project. 

Review the presentation above to learn about the types of diagrams used by designers to communicate their ideas. Then each project team needs to create a Use diagram and technical diagram. As you create your diagrams, consider how each one will highlight a different aspect of your idea. These diagrams should be useful tools for others to understand your idea.

Keep in mind that these diagrams will be shared in your final presentation, so take care to make them clean and easily understandable. 

Draw a Use Diagram

1. Look back at examples of this type of diagram in the slides above. 
2. Depict who is interacting with your project as well as how they are utilizing it.
3. Using arrows, color coding, and/or labels, point out the components of your project in your Use Diagram. 

Draw a Technical Diagram

1. Look back at examples in the slides above. Notice how these examples deconstruct the object to show the individual elements.
2. Deconstruct or take apart your final project into multiple components. Try to highlight visually, how the project is put together to perform its functions.

Deliverables

Submit your Use Diagram/s or Technical Diagram/s in the Responses tab above.

Prompt

Now that we've brainstormed and sketched and prototyped and FINALLY landed on a solid idea, it's time to delve into the realm of iterative design.

Iterative design is when you take your initial idea, get feedback, and improve upon that idea and your prototype in a cycle that can happen an infinite number of times (until you hit your deadline, of course!)

For this project, we will be doing two iterations that focus on FORM and FUNCTION. 

How can you improve the FORM of your design?

• Can you add another level of elegance, refinement, or more creativity to your design?
• Does the shape of each component of your design have anything to do with its function or use?
• If your object is interactive, how can you invite users in using only the visual nature of your design?

Important: Make sure you really examine the full range of materials available to you in this studio and make thoughtful choices about which materials you're using and why.

How can you improve the FUNCTION of your design?

• Does it move in the way you want it to?
• Does your prototype work the way you want it to? What are some mechanical kinks that you need to work out?

About interactivity...

The key element of interactivity is taking an input and converting it to an output. Luckily, there are a lot of simple ways to add interactivity to projects. Think about how you might include interactivity in your more advanced iterations.

Deliverable

1. Improve the form and function of your project through iterative design 
2. Take high-quality pictures of the finished prototype.
3. Post your documentation in the Responses tab above.

Instructions
3-5 minutes presentation, 5-7 minutes feedback each team

For the Mid-review presentation, each team will present to the class and teachers:

• First sketches
• Concept Thesis
• 3 Sketch models
• Ideas about next iterations

Presentations can be done with slides or by simply showing the materials and reading out the Concept Thesis. 

After each group presents, the teacher and other class members will provide feedback, using the guidelines in the Feedback and Critique slide deck below.

Description 

A concept thesis is an important step in starting a collaborative partner project. We will use this time to combine ideas and arrive at the conceptual directions of our project.

Instructions 

Start by looking at your sketches from Part 1 with your partner/ in your group. Together, decide on the main idea and form of your project.

Deliverables

At the end of this activity, each partnership should have a draft of a project name and a draft of a project concept thesis sentence. Combine these into a single post and add it to the Responses tab above. 

Purpose: In this activity, students will be introduced to best practices of initial sketching and ideation within their final groups.

Description: Students will work in their project groups to generate initial ideas about their concept in the form of sketches.

Part 1: In your group, begin discussing your possible concepts. Each group member should participate to get their ideas heard. Settle on an overall concept that encompasses the project criteria.

Part 2: Next, students should begin to develop initial sketches. Each group member should do their own sketch to communicate how they picture the concept. These initial sketches should be used to record initial ideas, gain consensus within your group, and to demonstrate specific aspects of an idea. 

Part 3: Once each sketch is complete, share your sketches with your instructor.

DELIVERABLES:

Upload your sketches to the Responses tab above. 

Congratulations, you've completed a NuVu Studio! 

At this stage, you should make sure your final presentations are uploaded on the platform. If you used Google Slides, make sure you clicked the "anyone with this link can view" link-sharing option, so others can see your presentation. 

Now it's time to reflect and share your thoughts on the studio experience. Fill out the post-studio survey here: https://forms.gle/5eZk2LGw5p4C5vUb9

Cardboard lends itself to different mechanisms compared to wood and acrylic. This mechanism combines aspects of the parallel linkage and eccentric cam. It also uses the springiness of cardboard as the returning force to bring the flag back down.

Learning Goals: 

1. Understand the basics of the cam and linkage mechanism. 
2. Apply your understanding of the mechanism to create a unique prototype. 

Part 1: Template model

Using the template file provided, you will recreate the cam and linkage cardboard model. To complete the activity, you will need cardboard, scissors, and a dowel or a pencil. 

Part 2: Customize!

Now that you have the basic Cam and Linkage mechanism, add on to make it unique. You could turn the base into a scene and attach a character to the moving part, make a moving thought bubble, or add an arm that will perform some action. 

Part 3: Document

Take photos of all your work. In the caption, make sure to describe the prototypes and explain your work process. Post your answers to the following reflection questions:

1. Did you find having a demo template useful? 
2. If you were to repeat this exercise, what would you do differently v. same?
3. Describe the parts you've modified from the original template. 
4. Are there other mechanisms you'd like to learn how to make?

Purpose: In this activity, students will be introduced to basic strategies and tools used to imagine and construct future worlds. These worlds will be used as a framework for imagining boundary-pushing transit solutions that harness renewable energy to deliver safe and innovative transportation solutions that meet the needs of its users.

Overview: Students will work in pairs using a self-selected Future Building image from the slides above to construct a vision of their future world. Once an analysis is created, students will generate a day-in-the-life storyboard for someone living in that world. 

Instructions:

Part 1: In pairs, students will select an inspirational image from the slides above that they will analyze and work with for this activity.

Part 2:  Envision what the logistics of the future world would look like (use the questions below as a starting place).

Part 3: Create a collage of your future world using magazine and printed images, or using a digital photo-editing software. The more details, the better. 

Part 4: Design a morning storyboard (template attached) for a student like you living in the future world. How would they get from point A to point B in this world? How would their daily tasks be impacted by a futuristic transportation system? 

Things to consider:

• Is there access to water? Fresh water? Salt Water? 
• How is water utilized or not utilized in this world? 
• What is the landscape like?
• What is the climate? Is there extreme weather?
• What kind of animals and plants live here? 
• What kind of government exists in this world? 
• Who holds power and resources here? What resources are the most valuable? 
• What forms of entertainment exist in this world? Is art important here? 
• What kind of foods and drinks are most consumed here? Why? 
• What do people do for work here? What are the most common professions? 
• What technology do people use to communicate? Do our current communication tools work in this world? 
• How do people get around? What forms of transportation are most useful? 
• What powers technology in this world? Water? Wood? The Sun?

DELIVERABLE:

All work should be added to the Responses tab in the form of a slide deck. It should include the following:

1. The inspiration photo of your future world
2. Your analysis of the future world. 
3. The storyboard developed from your future world. 

Purpose: Research can be a long, arduous process. It is also a crucial part of the studio process and can help you generate lots of new, creative ideas and solutions. To get as much access to useful information as possible, we'll each take on a small portion of the research and move on to brainstorming!

Prompt: Work in small teams and choose from the following list: solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, biomass, or tidal. 

Each group will have about 20 minutes to research and learn about renewable energy systems. Then, you will answer the questions below and share your knowledge with the rest of the class. This will be a casual share-out of knowledge. This research will be quick and collaborative. As we share, your teacher will try to help you think of how these energy systems could be deployed in the future. 

Instructions:

1. Research your selected energy source. Here are some resources you might use:
   • http://www.landartgenerator.org/LAGI-FieldGuideRenewableEnergy-ed2.pdf
   •  United Nations: Renewable Energies
   • Videos linked in the Resources tab above. 
2. As a group, jot down 5 key takeaways about your energy source.
3. Share your reflections. How does this research inform your ideas about the future of transit and personalized mobility? What are you most excited about for the future of transit? Are there opportunities you think should be explored?