The Final Countdown

Welcome to Senior year! I've got a studio now (well a 8'x8' gray box, it's a cubicle really) and just bought some new sketch books. All set to design.

For Fall '10 I'm taking,

I.P. (Integrative Project)

Basically, Michigan's fancy name for senior thesis project. I actually refuse to call it IP because I think it's a silly name. I do get my own studio for this course though!

I.P.D. (Integrated Product Development)

More acronyms! Teams of designers, engineers and MBA's design, produce and 'sell' a product at a fake trade show. We are designing, wait for it, pooper scoopers. Yep, pooper scoopers. I swear if the MBA in my group says "value added", I'll punch them.

Detroit Connections

I go to Detroit on Fridays and do art projects with 4 graders who would not have access to art classes otherwise. I love kids and am excited for this one.

Yep, just 3 classes (well along with the 1 credit required lectures for all students). Thesis is 6 credits a semester and IPD is 6 credits as well. I'll be busy with those two.

So, what am I thinking of doing for senior thesis? Well after kicking around a few ideas, including developing Home Base further and working to get it manufactured on a small scale, I decided to work on a project that I knew I would love and finally get something bike related in my portfolio. I'm going to design and build an urban trailer system for bicycles. The sort of thing bicycle commuters would use.

So, initial criteria I'm working towards,

-pullable by bike and walkable by hand

-foldable

-light weight

-customizable with different bag attachment options

-water proof bags in lieu of a rainfly

-stable (two wheels)

-maneuverable (small wheels)

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!