2009 Headlines
Many Minds Make Great Ideas: Creative Design for Affordability Class Teaches the Power of Design Thinking and Product Design
Johnson School class brings together students from across Cornell to design and build products for local non-profit and start-up business
March 9, 2009 | Ithaca, NY | On Monday, the first meeting of a new, groundbreaking class occurs when students from across Cornell University's campus convene in the Johnson School's Sage Hall to learn the fundamentals of design thinking popularized by design firms like Design Continuum and IDEO. Instead of just learning the steps involved in developing a new product, students from Cornell's graduate schools of business, engineering, human ecology, sociology, landscape architecture, public affairs, and biology, among others will actually design and build products that offer affordable solutions to an area non-profit and an eco-friendly start-up business.
At the beginning of the quarter, students will be divided into cross-disciplinary teams of four and will be presented with a design challenge. Then, over the course of the quarter, they will use common, accessible, low-tech items to build three simple product prototypes that meet the needs of the target customer. "Using such simple, common items will allow anyone to successfully engage in the brainstorming and product development process," says Charles Lo, Johnson School MBA student and co-founder of the class.
Half of the student teams will work on a project that includes developing a bicycle-powered corn grinder for Compos Mentis, an area non-profit farm that teaches life skills to adults with mental illnesses. The other half of the student teams will work with Comet Skateboards, a local start-up that builds skateboards and apparel with eco-friendly materials. In both instances, the challenges entail developing products that are gentle on the environment, and affordable to the consumer or end user.
The course includes a series of guest lectures, including a three-hour design workshop from Boston-based Design Continuum, most famous for developing the Swiffer floor cleaning system. Other guest lecturers include professors from the Engineering school, the school of Industrial and Labor Relations, the Johnson School, as well as experts in product development and human factors engineering for Kodak.
The class was started by two second-year MBA students, Charles Lo and Jeffrey Gangemi under the tutelage of Johnson School Economics Professor Alan McAdams. Lo is a PhD biologist, and Gangemi is a former BusinessWeek writer. Together with McAdams, the two found common ground in their desire to bring more creativity into the business world, and this class marks the culmination of more than a year's work.
Read a student's perspective in the Cornell Business Journal.About Compos Mentis
Compos Mentis: Working Toward Wellness, Inc. is a day program for adults learning to live with a mental illness. Through the quiet, orderly discipline of communal farm work, we help adults burdened by illness develop the patience, self-confidence, and hope they need to reclaim the power to lead productive lives. We also aim to alleviate the stress experienced by family members and close friends, and to create an environment where people with significant mental health challenges can demonstrate their capabilities to others. Participants in our program spend their days at the farm where their recovery and wellness and supported through meaningful work and supportive group activity. More information about the program can be obtained by visiting the Compos Mentis website at composmentisithaca.org.
About Comet Skateboards
Comet Skateboards is the leading manufacturer of high performance green composite skateboards. Comet uses a unique blend of regionally sourced materials that result in strong, light skateboards. By purchasing raw materials regionally, Comet contributes to a vibrant local living economy and does not create excess pollution by shipping materials all over the world. Comet Skateboards has exclusive use of e2e biocomposites for skateboards and are made with paints and adhesives that do not off-gas harmful chemicals. Comet skateboards last longer than any skateboard on the market and when they have been shredded to the end they will safely turn back into fertile dirt if composted. With its ecologically safe materials, Comet scraps can be used to fertilize gardens, heat homes, make bonfires, serve as media for works of art, etc.
