Spring Critical Making Showcase
NWMEDIA 203: Critical Making will showcase the incredible works they’ve designed over the semester on Thursday, May 4 from 2–3:30 PM ! Check out live demonstrations and join in conversation on making here at Cal!
The Critical Making showcase is being hosted by the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. On Wednesday, May 3, and Thursday, May 4, they are opening their doors to display students’ innovative designs. Featuring project displays and demos — along with conversation and refreshments — the showcase is an opportunity to meet a diverse community of student makers, to explore design projects across disciplines, and to celebrate the completion of the academic year.
Critical Making is one of 16 courses presenting its work over eight showcase sessions. All of the courses have taken place in Jacobs Hall this semester, making use of the building’s flexible spaces for hands-on learning. With coursework spanning departments, design focuses, and experience levels, the showcase will highlight the diversity of the design innovation ecosystem at Jacobs Hall and at Berkeley.
Event Information
Jacobs Hall is located at 2530 Ridge Road, on the northeast side of the UC Berkeley campus. For information on campus shuttles and links to public transit, please visit Bear Transit. While RSVPs are not required for this open-house-style event, they help with planning and communication; please RSVP here.
For additional information, please contact jacobsinstitute [at] berkeley.edu.
The full schedule is below.
Wednesday, May 3
10:00am–11:30am
Reimagining Mobility
How might we imagine and prototype mobility futures? Check out student projects from this semester-long exploration of interactions between people and new transportation modalities, with a focus on the automated driving experience.
Design Methodology
See work from this introductory course, which aims to expose students to the mindset, skillset, and toolset associated with design.
Visual Communication and Sketching
Students in this course gain visual communication skills that are essential to design processes. From the fundamentals of sketching to storyboarding and more, take a look at what they have learned and created.
Processing of Materials in Manufacturing
Explore projects from this upper-level course, in which students work in teams to identify a product need, design a mechanical assembly to meet that need, and select appropriate materials and processes for manufacturing several of the key components in their designs.
12:00pm–1:30pm
Bioinspired Design
Bioinspired design views the process of how we learn from nature as an innovation strategy, translating principles of function, performance and aesthetics from biology to human technology. Learn about diverse student teams’ work on original bioinspired design projects.
User Experience Design
This studio course introduces students to design thinking and the basic practices of interaction design. See what students have created while exploring user interactions, use contexts, and larger systems.
2:00pm–3:30pm
User Interface Design (session 1)
Check out the original interfaces student teams have created in this class, in which they have taken part in needs assessment, rapid prototyping, algorithmic implementation, and more.
Sustainable Product Design
Explore students’ hands-on explorations of the green product development process, from product definition to sustainable manufacturing and financial models.
Industrial Design and Human Factors
Surveying topics related to the design of products and interfaces from alarm clocks to websites, students in this course have explored elements like the physics and perception of color, sound, and touch, as well as case studies and contemporary practices in interface design and usability testing. See how they have applied these concepts to design problems.
4:00pm–5:30pm
Prototyping and Fabrication
In this introduction to the tools and methods of hands-on making, students have built bluetooth-controlled vehicles — and now they’ll take on an obstacle course! Take part in the excitement and learn more about the skills they’ve gained over the semester.
Designing Technology to Counter Violent Extremism
Students in this unique class have designed and prototyped interventions to tackle the drivers of extremism, considering how technology tools might help shape alternative narratives, civic engagement, community resilience, and other areas. Hear about the course and see their software prototypes.
Thursday, May 4
10:00am–11:30am
User Interface Design (session 2)
Check out the original interfaces student teams have created in this class, in which they have taken part in needs assessment, rapid prototyping, algorithmic implementation, and more.
Introduction to Manufacturing and Tolerancing
Students will showcase work from this introduction to geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, tolerance analysis for fabrication, and the fundamentals of manufacturing processes.
Artist-in-Residence: Shari Paladino
Meet Art Practice MFA student Shari Paladino, who has been in residence at Jacobs Hall this year, and see the creative work she has produced using makerspace tools.
Club and DeCal projects (session 1)
Check out innovative work created in design clubs and student-taught DeCal courses.
12:00pm–1:30pm
Introduction to New Product Development
Explore innovative new product ideas from multidisciplinary student teams. Students have studied the engineering design process and conceptual design of products, websites, experiences, services, and business models.
Fung Fellowship for Wellness and Technology Innovations
This course provides a platform for the Fung Fellowship cohort’s continued teamwork and is the second semester of a series on developing digital wellness products targeted for underserved populations. See what they’ve been working on.
Club and DeCal projects (session 2)
Check out innovative work created in design clubs and student-taught DeCal courses.
2:00pm–3:30pm
Critical Making
Explore original projects from Critical Making, which operationalizes and critiques the practice of “making” through both foundational literature and hands-on studio culture. As hybrid practitioners, students develop fluency in collaging and incorporating a variety of physical materials and protocols into their practice. With design research as a lens, students envision and create future computational experiences that critically explore relevant technological themes.
Collaborative Innovation
In this course — a collaboration between the departments of Art Practice, Theater and Performance Studies, and the Haas School of Business — students work across disciplines as they learn fundamental approaches to innovation and create unique design projects.