STEAMStudio Reflection:
“The two hemispheres of our brains don’t operate as on-off switches, one powering down as soon as the other starts lighting up. Both halves play a role in nearly everything we do. “We can say that certain regions of the brain are more active than others when it comes to certain functions,” explains one medical primer, “but we can’t say those functions are confined to particular areas.” The above quote was from the book A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink. I was somewhat forced to read this book before arriving, by my right-brain enthusiast mother who thought that I operated too much like an analytical left-brainer and consequently a STEM kid. I read through various passages that my mom had highlighted previously, but I didn’t fully understand as well as appreciate the symbiotic relationship of the left and the right brain, and having it lead to breakthroughs in design and progression. Arriving the first day I was ecstatic to see Legos strewn across the tables. They had been my favorite toy, aside from Lincoln Logs as child. I was the kid who would hoard all the same color pieces to make something geometric and symmetrical. This was evident in Steam class when I built a red truck. I looked around at other individual’s creations and they were, abstract, multicolored, and different. I probably didn't think it then but I was disappointed with what I built. So within myself I from then on challenged myself to be creative and different; add the “a” to STEM to get STEAM. I’m exaggerating somewhat in this caffeine fueled reflection of course. I was always artistic and creative, I wasn’t some kind of STEM robot that could only recite the quadratic formula every 5 minute increment. Reflecting the paper airplane exercise was quite eyeopening when delving into the psyche of design and of human nature. In our first iteration as group it seemed that every plane was just clone of the standard airplane. The second iteration, is where I challenged myself to explore the definition of what an airplane was. After demonstrating my definition of the airplane, it seemed that the other students, were now challenging there own definition of what a paper airplane was and could be. That’s what good design is, a challenge of the composed. I was now confident in my ability to create.....and fail, thanks to my large paper helicopter that imploded magnificently. There was a welcoming freedom within STEAMStudio, when moving onto our individual projects, I could’ve made anything; that was exciting for me! When I created the laptop stand it was frustrating. I saw the potential of the first design, but with subsequent iterations I never fully achieved that same potential and actuality of the design, of course I was working with the restraints of a 3 week period. What’s interesting about the creative process was that I never forgot that project. When it came time for final projects, my mind still wandered around the concept of personal technology and how to improve or build upon it. I see it now, the running theme throughout all my designs, which is quite amazing. As I posted on Facebook previously, “The feeling you get when you have a revelation that gives you a solution to an obstacle in your design is only overcome in greatness by the actualization of that revelation in physical form.” It is quite the awesome feeling. Right when I was leaving the class one day I just had that revelation for a product. What if someone had a white board constructed into a laptop case? I’d like to thank SteamStudio for allowing us unrestricted access to tools and materials. The creative process is trial and error, and we indisputably had errors. The final iteration though just gives you a sure bliss like no other. During these three weeks I experienced the time of my life. What have I learned? I learned to be audacious in design, I learned to not be afraid of failure because it can lead to breakthroughs, I learned to always integrate design and function, and most of all I learned to STEAM ON!
