Karl

I read some Bruce Sterling this summer and got interested in many of the issues he brought up. The fact that we have little to no knowledge of most of the objects we purchase and consume seems quite alarming. What ways can we bring up this issue and design products that have more transparency within their production cycles? How can consumers be educated when they purchase products? At least providing them a viable sustainable alternative would be a good start.

Some of my interests related to this class include -

• Alternative energy, lets start with ConEd and see what Green Energy options they are really offering
• Sustainable farming techniques
• Spimes

Besides having some connections with a non-profit in Washington D.C., EnterpriseWorks, that promotes sustainable economies in devleloping countries I have little background related to this class. But I'm definitely interested in learning more!

My Blog - Hypnalogic

Project Abstract - I want to aid in the process of creating a more sustainable environment on the ITP floor. I am interested in finding better design solutions that incorporate an improved sustainbility product cycle. I will begin this process by researching a specific case study and seeing how that can be applied to the floor at ITP. I think a design philosophy can be engrained in students from the beginning at ITP and help them have a more conscious understanding of building sustainble minded physical computing and industrial design related projects. Helping with the energy audit is the first step and then finding ways to offer practical solutions is the next step.

The case study I looked at was the famed 'Hundred-Dollar Laptop' project. I think the design solutions that emerged from this project are fascinating and really showe what is possible with sustainable technology today. If you can make a computer that can run itself in the harsh conditions of a third-world country with little to no access to electricity that can adapt to local environmental constaints then you have taken a big step forward in creating a computing system that can be self-sustianing.

Some of the main issues were components that use less energy, a human power source, mesh networks, cheap memory and ruggedization. Being constrained to these issues forced the designers to find alternatives to the typical computer configuration. For example, flash memory was choosen over a hard drive for it's lower energy demands. The screen used LEDs rather than fluorescent lighting. Some of the ideas to recharge the computer included, treadle-power, rocking-chair based power, harvesting keystrokes and using fly-wheels that produce power when a user carries the laptop. A lot of these solutions exemplify innovative design that could be more engrained into the ITP curriculum through examples and straight forward education. On top of the technology I also want to examine what materials could also be better suited for class projects.

My goal is to create a list of types of sustainble technologies and materials that are affordable and accessible to ITP students and explain their benefits by citing specific examples. This project will tie in with other students' projects for this class by increasing the overall awareness of sustainable practices on the ITP floor. In the coming years I hope ITP students will at least be conscious of sustainble alternatives in materials and technology options for their projects. Try to encourage people to understand the entire life cycle of a product rather than assuming it will become 'waste' after a short period of time.