Course Approach
ME310 | Global Engineering Design Innovation (GEDI) is a full-immersion course in which graduate students learn to innovate through direct experience. The course culture embraces the underpinnings of design thinking, but it goes beyond the early phases of design to drive initial ideas and design concepts into practical reality.
Developing Substantial Technical Deliverables
GEDI emphasizes engineering design. Teams do not stop their work after developing a single design, instead they conceive and build diverse prototypes throughout the project so they can refine their ideas and develop viable design responses. Throughout the course, student teams will:
Develop and/or apply new technologies to address design requirements
Examine holistic considerations for product prototypes
Consider how to create robust and easily-learned user experiences
Consider how innovations can be successfully deployed and sustained
Prototyping
Prototyping new technologies is a core tenet of the course. Sponsors often provide equipment and product samples (e.g, devices, packaging samples, cars, motors, tooling, software, etc.) to help students contextualize their work.
Simulation
Simulators are a useful tool in testing user interface concepts. Teams learn how to build appropriate critical experience prototypes that can help collect data that can inform their design evolutions.
Communication
In their final documents and presentations, teams develop visual explanations of their prototypes in a style similar to commercial product brochures. Product-related communication skills are an important aspects of professional design practice.
An Outline of Course Activities
The unique approach and special techniques the teaching team applies in the course has evolved over decades of practice and research study. Some of the major activities that teams undertake (referred to as "missions" in the course) over the academic year include those listed below.
A graphical illustration of the course nine-month schedule.
Fall Quarter: Early Stage Design Skills
Design Team Dynamics – learn experientially about coordination issues starting with the introductory Paper Bike Challenge and continuing with tools for fostering empathy across globally distributed teams
Needfinding – creatively reframe and re-define opportunities related to the sponsor brief
User Profile Development – build empathetic profiles of target users
Foresight Innovation – map far-future scenarios that could inform creative thinking
Critical Function Prototype – test a functional technology or subcomponent that is critical for a successful design outcome
Critical Experience Prototype – test a user experience aspect that is critical for a successful design outcome
Customer Journey Mapping – build a deep, holistic understanding of customer experiences for a target user
First Quarter Documentation – capture and present findings from early explorations in written, visual and oral format. Fall quarter culminates with a proposal for what should be engineered, built and tested in Winter and Spring.
Embracing Ambiguity
Design requirements for the Paper Bike Challenge change each year. Student teams benchmark against previous years to learn about key considerations but they need to address new requirements without relying on precedents.
Critical Functions
Teams build a variety of different vehicles in response to the challenge each year. Some designs fare better than others. Students learn firsthand -- by driving their own creations -- where critical failure points may be common.
Team Dynamics
Stanford students in the course pose for a group photo after the Paper Bike contest. The teams encounter the challenges of team-based design while working on an unusual task with a two-week schedule.
Winter Quarter: Design Explorations
Mechatronics Skills Development – follow tutorials on using microcontrollers and electronics for product prototypes
Advanced Needfinding – develop a more sophisticated understanding of user needs and journeys
Dark-Horse Prototyping – explore long-shot prototypes to find unanticipated breakthrough ideas
Divergent/Convergent Ideation – think broadly, then focus more narrowly... repeatedly
User Requirements Refinement – revisit and update design requirements based on needfinding results
Continuous Prototyping – iteratively build and test functional prototypes and experience prototypes
Specialized Guest Lectures – hear subject matter experts, including course alumni, speak on a range of topics
Technical Explorations – survey the landscape of existing products, emerging technologies, and research investigations
Project Coach Mentorship – respond to guidance from professionals, who are leaders in their respective fields
Global Team Visits – convene at Stanford with students from international partners to work together in-person
Second Quarter Documentation – capture and present results from early product development
Foresight
In 2006 an ME310 | GEDI student team experimented with form factors and features for telepresence robots, well before such products became common.
Teamwork
Work at the team level is basic to all projects. Students have 24/7 access to the Design Loft, where they store equipment, materials and prototypes, hold team meetings, and fabricate their prototypes. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)
Fabrication
The Design Loft includes a small fabrication area where students can access various tools as they build and debug prototypes. More sophisticated manufacturing equipment is available in Stanford's Product Realization Lab.
Spring Quarter: Advanced Development, Testing and Refinement
Small Group Meetings / Coaching – Meet often with industry coaches to discuss progress and solicit advice.
Global Site Visits – Visit international partner teams in their countries and tour relevant environments.
Specialized Technology Development – Build credible, functional versions of critical subsystems. Teams often engage subcontractors for specialized fabrication.
Product Realization Lab Fabrication – Use short-run manufacturing tools to build components.
System Integration – Assemble hardware, configure electronics, code software, debug, etc.
Prototype Iteration and Refinement – Use insights from each prototype to prepare the next iteration.
Hardware Bazaar – Demonstrate initial hardware systems a few weeks before final presentations.
Final Prototype – Finalize and construct canonical prototype(s) for public demonstration at EXPE.
Third Quarter Documentation Milestone – Finalize outcomes and summarize results. Extensive final reports are archived in the Stanford Libraries after an optional one-year delay.
Partnerships
The Stanford Teaching Team liaises with faculty colleagues at partner institutions and with industry affiliates to coordinate activities across the course's global footprint.
Solutions Showcase
In the EXPE penultimate showcase experience, students summarize their months of work into a package that communicates through functioning prototypes, poster exhibits, oral presentation, and written documents.
Perspectives
The EXPE event gives a unique setting in which students can interact with seasoned professionals, and corporate sponsors can gain new insights from students' fresh perspectives.