MIT Morningside Academy for Design

??? MIT MAD's founding director John Ochsendorf was featured in Jarrett Fuller's?Scratching the Surface,?a podcast about design, theory, and creative practice. Give it a listen! In this conversation, John and Jarrett discuss how MAD strives to spread design across the MIT campus, the relationship between design and engineering, and why it’s a good thing that it is so hard to define design: https://lnkd.in/eJNP-Zb4 In addition to being MAD's founding director, John O. is an engineer, educator, and designer, with faculty appointments in the MIT Department of Architecture and MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering. Jarrett is a designer, writer, educator, and podcaster. He is an assistant professor of graphic and experience design at North Carolina State University and runs?twenty-six, a multidisciplinary design and editorial studio. Thank you for the feature! Massachusetts Institute of Technology

?? Meet Mateo! Mateo Fernandez is a designer from Quito, Ecuador pursuing his MArch at MIT Department of Architecture. He centers Design + Play in his exploration of innovative building technologies incorporating 3D printing, sculpture, soft robotics, biomaterials and more. Mateo is a member of a team prototyping Momo, a self-assembling lunar habitat designed to support the NASA Artemis missions. ?? MINI Q&A ?? Q: In your field, what defines a “good design”? A: Ah, the age-old question! I’m still trying to figure that out at MIT, so let’s circle back in a couple of years! ?? Q: What’s something new you’re excited to try in the next year? A: I’m excited to dive back into exploration and research mode, especially being surrounded by brilliant classmates and fellows. Lately, I’ve been tinkering with space design, lunar habitats, and transformable structures, so I’m looking forward to seeing where that rabbit hole takes me! Images courtesy of Mateo Fernandez.

Engineering Leadership:?What it Takes to Define, Engineer and Deliver Revolutionary Products Join us to learn how Dan Riccio led Apple’s engineering teams to launch the iPhone and other category-changing products. Apply the insights you gain to your own technical leadership journey. Open to the MIT community only. Register now! tinyurl.com/tlcriccio

Applications are now open for the MITdesignX 2025 cohort! MITdesignX seeks diverse, interdisciplinary teams working on challenging ideas with clear vision, passion and drive to design solutions and launch a real venture.?Applications go through a rigorous selection process that reviews ideas based on human, environmental and social impact, feasibility, uniqueness, and scalability as well as team composition, diversity and skillset. Applications close November 1.?Click here to apply now: https://lnkd.in/eQFqfGpX

?? MIT first-years! A special introduction to making at MIT is here for you: the Makerspace 1st-Year Training Program (or M1T) will earn you access to key makerspaces, common tools, Makerbucks, and a cool new t-shirt! ?? to Maker Technical Specialist Jessica Osserman for designing the M1T graphic identity and modeling swag! Find more details and register for an orientation + 1st-year training at the link in bio. Not a first-year? Other makerspace orientations and trainings are available to second+ year students and MIT community members. Images: Adelaide Zollinger Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT School of Architecture and Planning | MIT School of Engineering

Meet Lyle! Lyle Regenwetter is an MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) PhD candidate in the Design Computation and Digital Engineering (DeCoDE) Lab. Lyle works at the intersection of Design + AI developing methods to incorporate design requirements, such as safety constraints and performance objectives, into the training process of generative AI models. ?? Lyle's Q&A ?? Q: In your field, what defines a "good design?" A: I largely think of design quality from a computational design perspective. Essentially, a "good design" is one that satisfies a variety of design constraints and is objectively valuable in the context of existing known design solutions (i.e. could be the "best" solution given a set of design objective priorities). Q: What's something new you're excited to try in the next year? A: I'm very excited to explore new methods that combine generative AI models with direct design optimization. I think there is a lot of untapped potential to combine the synergies of these two frameworks for design synthesis applications. Read Lyle's profile on the MIT MAD website at https://buff.ly/3MBowVU. ?? Interested in applying to the Design Fellowship? Look out for the next Call for Applications in November.

?? This Sunday 9/29: Drop by the imagination station at the Cambridge Science Festival Carnival to make a pencil critter! Come work alongside MIT students and staff on this activity geared toward kids and families to learn about low-fidelity prototyping with simple materials. Event details + RSVP at https://buff.ly/3XgREb7, walk-ins welcome!

Prajwal Mahesh '22 SM '24 has been designing and building coffee grinders! #MITDesignProjects ?? What was your background at MIT? I completed a BSc (course 2A) and MSc in mechanical engineering. My research in grad school focused on developing a chemistry and process for a light-based thermoplastic 3D printing method aimed at reducing plastic waste in large-scale manufacturing. ?? What did you make? This is a 64mm flat burr electric coffee grinder inspired by the EG-1 by Weber Workshops. ?? Why did you make it? I collect interesting bits of hardware and shiny metal like a big crow, and one of the benefits of hoarding junk is that occasionally, you end up with an actually useful combination of parts. My parents were getting into espresso at the time, and I wanted them to explore different beans, recipes, and grind sizes without having to take out a second mortgage for a decent quality grinder. I figured I could whip one up mostly using the stock and components I had on hand. ?? What tools did you use to make it? Most of the grinder is made from 6061 aluminum and 304 stainless steel, which I machined using the CNC mills and lathes at The Deep makerspace. A few components were 3D printed in matte white PLA to allow for easy adjustments and modularity. ?? What was the most challenging part of the fabrication process? The fabrication process is relatively straightforward with sufficient design foresight and manufacturing planning. The most challenging aspect for me is always managing time and balancing the trade-off between perfection and practicality, like deciding when a cosmetic error justifies completely remaking a part. ?? What do you plan to make next? I’m generally drawn towards projects that require me to step outside my comfort zone and learn about new disciplines and techniques. I’m currently working on restoring an old industrial robot arm and I’m looking to get into some automotive projects as soon as I have a little more space. Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT School of Engineering | MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) | MIT Alumni Association

?? Calling all little designers! In this 1.5 hour workshop run by Minni in collaboration with MIT MAD, children in grades K–2 will be taken through the entire design process to create and model their ideal fashion wearable around a sci-fi theme. September 28, 2024, 10am Located at the MIT Stata Center in Cambridge, MA Accompanying adult caregivers may reserve a spot at https://buff.ly/4fNFBJL. This workshop is part of MAD’s Power of Design series, dedicated this year to the ways in which Design Transforms Learning, and a part of Cambridge Science Festival occurring from September 23 to 29. MIT Museum | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

?? Join Kevin Bethune, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of dreams ? design + life in a lecture discussing his work as a designer and provide a preview of his new book, Nonlinear: Navigating Design with Curiosity and Conviction (The MIT Press Feb. 2025). September 25, 2024, 10–11am MIT Building 9-451 Cambridge, MA Find the full event details at https://buff.ly/4dEvIMX. This lecture is featured as part of the course “Entrepreneurship in the Built Environment,” and is a collaboration between MAD, MITdesignX, MIT Department of Architecture, and MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning. MIT School of Architecture and Planning