steamtank
second year
transdisciplinary class
3 months
SteamTank is a transdisciplinary class in which a student team of engineers, business students, other designers, and sustainability students create a science exhibit for the STEAMtank - a dedicated exhibit space at ASU that teaches children about STEAM.
interaction design /
design for play /
user experience /
SteamTank was a transdisciplinary class in which I worked as an industrial designer in a team of other design, engineering, and business students.
I joined a team that already had a strong concept,
welcome to
Character designs were done by Sofia Garcia, the amazing graphic designer on our team. All credits go to her.
Enijoy Team:
Andrew Olson, Austin Disney, Logan Farrington, Dhruv Gaikwad, Julian Ferrer, Thrisha Narayanan, Sofia Garcia, Nicholas Ledbetter
aimed at kids aged 5-12
Ready, Set, Go is an immersive and interactive racing experience for children K-5th grade. From the construction of the race-car to testing them on the track, children are able to learn STEAM elements within automotive sciences. The experience will be as follows:
1.
create a race car
Kids will head to the first design table and create their very own race car! Kids can mix and match various car shells and chassis to create the car of their choosing. And of course, decorate them with the member of the STEAM Dream Team.
2.
test your creation
Kids can make sure their cars are ready to race before they move over to the final track. If needed, they can revisit the design station to tweak their character or car.
3.
final track
Up to three people can race their cars on the final track at once. All participants will set up their car into the correct starting position. There will be a countdown leading up to the start of the race, and once the buzzer goes off the race begins! The exhibit will teach kids through trial and error which race cars work best on the track in order to get the fastest times.
4.
photo finish!
Once the race has finished, all participants can head to the winner’s platform to take their picture with Joy. Children will also be encouraged to take stickers home to remember their experience at the Ready, Set, Go Exhibit.
initial concept renders:
done by Sofia Garcia
prototyping and modeling
super quick ramp models to learn scale and slope
then we hit the ground running
modular car design by Andrew Olson
opening night!
Opening night was attended by professors, investors, family, and friends (including their kids).
The enijoy exhibit teaches younger kids (5-10 yrs) about momentum. Kids are able to build their own cars, mixing and matching the body sizes to see how weight impacts speed.
other students exhibits!
By the end of the night, our exhibit was pretty destroyed... we'd call that a success!
I was lucky enough to have an amazing team.
A Professor and TA who were motivating, engaged, and decisive.
An experienced designer who was willing to mentor me and frankly, let me follow him around.
And great project managers who kept everything running smoothly.
My biggest lesson from this project
(aside from how expensive wood can get)
is how
a good team can make all the difference.
