EngScis Design for a Better Toronto – check it out on Tuesday
April 10th, 2011 by Alex | Co-Editor
What: Showcase of design projects by 1st year Engineering Science students. The projects focus on improving the City of Toronto
When: Tuesday, April 12, 10AM-5PM
Where: Bahen Centre Atrium – 40 St. George St.
More Info: Check out EngSci’s Press Release
Every year, first year Engineering Science students tackle solving complex problems facing the City of Toronto, and they usually come up with some really fantastic ideas. It’s worth making the trip out to check out the projects, grill teams on their designs, and see first-hand just how impressive first years can be. Last year’s showcase generated a lot of buzz with articles on the event featured in the Toronto Star and the National Post. This year, students teams are tackling problems ranging from improving ambulance response times in the bridle path to the challenge of providing good streetcar stop information systems. You can check out the student-generated Request for Proposals here to get a better taste for what topics are tackled this year.
Structured around the theme of “Design for Toronto,” Praxis II offers Engineering Science students the opportunity to apply their engineering, design and communication skills to local challenges. Focusing on Toronto allows the students to gain first-hand experience with the issues confronting the City and provides them with the opportunity to engage one-on-one with stakeholders, including City and community representatives.
In Praxis II, students first identify and then solve design challenges, sourced from across the GTA, enriching both their communities and their own understanding of what it means to be engineering designers. Responding to a hypothetical City call for special projects, the class scours the City looking for aspects in need of sustainable improvement. In their responses they define an engineering problem and produce a Request for Proposal (RFP) complete with background, problem statement and engineering requirements. These RFPs are developed independently by the class and are written from the perspective of one or more City Divisions. This year the class identified a range of civic-minded projects involving city agencies such as the TTC, parks and recreation, waste management and emergency medical services.
Praxis II culminates in the Praxis Design for Toronto Showcase. At the Showcase students share both their understanding of the challenges and their design solutions to a wide audience through posters, prototypes and presentations.Last year’s Showcase, our first Design for Toronto themed event, produced designs for, among others, improving signage in the PATH, integrating alternative energy (production methods) into the downtown core, cyclist and pedestrain safety at several major routes and intersections, and improving the TTC’s emergency response system.
At last year’s design showcase, the students defended their designs to city councillors, representatives of the TTC and to other skilled designers from the Toronto area. The participation of these City officials, corporations, and members of the public in the Showcase helped create a more authentic design experience for the students, giving their work a much more real and immediate context. Designs from last year’s Showcase were featured in a five day feature in The Toronto Star’s “Your City My City” section, The National Post and several local blogs. More pictures of last year’s event, posters, and prototypes are available here.
