Events and Outreach

Tobin Williams (Executive Director of Experience Design for Consumers Energy) gave a talk on April 20, 2022 detailing the need of the industry in terms of UX designers: 

Presentation:
-Transforming the Energy Sector With the Power of Design
-Experience Design Roles at Consumers Energy
-Navigating the Interview Process
-Open Discussion / Q&A

The Experience Design team at Consumers Energy is responsible for leading organizational and customer experience transformation to help achieve the Company’s triple bottom line of People, Planet and Prosperity.
Since joining Consumers Energy in 2012, Tobin’s  leadership roles have included initiatives centered on branding and communications, organizational culture, digital transformation and customer experience strategy and measurement.
Tobin currently leads the Experience Design team responsible planning, testing and implementing customer experience standards across the organization, infusing customer centricity into Company strategies, and applying design thinking methodologies to deliver world-class. customer experience and engagement.

UM-Dearborn students built STEM toys and donated them to the local toy library

ou have to hand it to Assistant Professor Georges Ayoub for finding ways to make engineering education both rigorous and fun. A couple semesters ago he had his students concept, design and manufacture original board games — a highly detailed process that involves a surprisingly wide range of skills in the engineer’s toolbox. He got such good feedback that this year, he decided to up his game with a follow-up project in one of his manufacturing classes. The challenge: build STEM learning toys and then gift them to the Dearborn Toy Library, a local nonprofit that lets kids checkout toys, including many educational ones. 

Read the full article at: UM-Dearborn students built STEM toys and donated them to the local toy library

Discover the who, what, where, when, why, and how about Human-Centered Engineering design of the University of Michigan Dearborn right here!  

The first UM-Dearborn design Meetup will be held Friday, October 22nd between 1 pm and 4:30 pm. The event will be taking place in the 1030 CASL building between 1 pm – 2:30 pm and in the ELB lobby between 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm. 

Find below the detailed schedule for the first annual UM-Dearborn Design Meetup: 

1 pm – 2:30 pm CASL Building 1030 invited speakers talk 20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion per speaker:
1 pm – 1:30 pm Tom Acker “Human-Centered Design & Digital Product Design”
1:30 pm – 2 pm Aurelien Francois “User-Centered Design & Context: Navigating Complexity”
2 pm – 2:30 pm Chanel Beebe “But what does it Mean to be People who Matter?: HCD, Systems Thinking and the Iterative Journey of Prioritizing the Vulnerable”

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm, Visit the UM-Dearborn HCD Facilities, Studios, and labs (CASL, IAVS, ELB, HPEC, and MSEL)

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm, Engineering Laboratory Building (ELB) lobby coffee and light snacks.

4:30 pm end of the event
 

Virtual attendees can join the 1 to 2:30 pm talks through Zoom by following the link:

Meeting ID: 926 6372 9558
Passcode: 501840

Speakers Biography:

Tom Acker is a UX designer, researcher, and instructor with over 8 years in digital business transformation and digital product development. Tom’s passion is discovering unmet needs so he can build things people love to use. Tom has done award winning work with clients like WestJet, Canadian Tire, Four Seasons, Marriott International, Citibank, Longo’s, OP-PFC and many others. Tom is dedicated to building up the next generation of user experience designers and researchers and teaches part-time at Juno College in addition to working as an Experience Lead at Fantasy.

Aurel Francois is a Senior Industrial Designer at Faurecia, a global leader in Automotive Seating, Interior Systems, Onboard Experience and Emission Control Technologies. Since he joined the Faurecia North American Design Studio in 2016, Aurel has been thriving through cross-functional collaborations, contributing human-focused Industrial Design insight to process & product development. Earlier in his career, Aurel worked for seven years at Local Motors, supporting the creation, development and production of innovative vehicles using online co-creation and local micro-manufacturing. Aurel holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Design and Engineering Management from the Institut Supérieur.

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Chanel Beebe is a creative artist, writer, and educator who designs, implements and conducts research on S.T.E.A.M. programming. Chanel's current projects investigate how non-engineers at various S.T.E.A.M. programming sites make sense of their experience and exhibit evidence of systems thinking. Chanel has a strong passion for nourishing the critical and social consciousness of youth and is the founder and C.E.O. of a research and design firm that focuses on social and educational equity (Beebe Arts LLC). Within this role, she provides consulting, research and various forms of media design to individuals, community groups, institutions and corporations. In 2021, Chanel will graduate with both a Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education and plans to continue to study socially situated design and learning experiences. As a growing "socio-technical activist," Chanel seeks to blend her values of equity, health and sustainability with her formal training as an Industrial Engineer. More of Chanel's work and progress can be found at ChanelBeebe.com.

Detroit Month of Design Family and Kids workshop

The family and kids workshop aims to provide an introduction to design thinking processes through a series of short presentations and a hands-on activity. The aim of the hands-on activity is to help LIBRARY FOR ME an active association in the Detroit neighborhood that aims to help the community through education. 

The event took place Virtually on Saturday, September 11 from 10 am to 11: 15 am. 

Detroit Month of Design prospective undergraduate and graduate students' workshop

The undergraduate and graduate students' workshop aims to provide an introduction to design thinking processes through a series of short presentations and a hands-on activity. The aim of the hands-on activity is to identify a problem, ask the right questions, research, and identify a possible solution. 

The event took place Virtually on Saturday, September 11 from 11:30 am to 1 pm. 

 More than 30 people attended the event and the attendees had the opportunity to meet the University of Michigan Dearborn Engineering Design Faculty and to discuss with LIBRARY FOR ME Founder Desirae Tolbert and previous Human-Centered graduate students.

Two UM-Dearborn human-centered design experts break down why designing products that don’t leave some people on the sidelines take a more empathetic approach to engineering.

The Human-Centered Engineering Design program launched the official website on February 2021. 

The Bachelor of Science Engineering in Human Centered Engineering Design (BSE in HCED) requires a total of 128 credit hours and provides first, a strong basis in the foundations of engineering: natural and physical sciences, mathematics, the behavioral sciences and the basic engineering sciences which begin the emphasis on creative problem solving. Then, the program develops strong foundation on which human centered design engineering work is founded. This includes studies in design process and creative problem solving, design communication, art design, qualitative and quantitative research methods in need finding, usability engineering, human factors engineering, and prototyping. 

Creative fields like art and design are generally stereotyped as being at odds with more technical fields like engineering. But Applied Arts Lecturer Sarah Nesbitt says many students often see the synergy. In recent years, she’s had more than a few engineering students show up in her drawing, photography and design courses looking for something they wish they had more of in their engineering programs. “They often feel a little conflicted about their majors because they want to do more creation, more building — and that’s not always the focus,” Nesbitt says. “Lately, when I’ve been telling students about this new program we have in the works, they’re just like, ‘where do I enroll? That’s totally for me.’”