VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Dorsa, Edward A."

Browsing by Author "Dorsa, Edward A."

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Adding Value Through Digital Craft
Lucardi, Audrey Lea (Virginia Tech, 2010-12-07)
This thesis is an attempt to embody sustainability by discovering value that transcends cost or function. Many objects are considered waste when they still function, but no longer delight the user. Using digital modeling tools and computer numerical controlled machines, designers can digitally craft products unique to the individual. Utilizing these aspects to create pleasure, designers can motivate consumers to be more thoughtful in their consumption, extend the desirable life of a product, and change the current societal norm of disposability.
Deployable Infrastructure in Support of Science and Education
King, Jonathan Lee (Virginia Tech, 2009-05-04)
P.L.U.G. is a prototypical solution to a highly specialized design problem that emerged in support of remote biological field research in the Mahale mountains of Western Tanzania. In collaboration with researchers from the Virginia Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine's (VMRCVM) Bush to Base Bioinformatics(B2B) group a team of students and faculty from the Virginia Tech School of Architecture + Design designed, constructed, tested, and deployed the mobile field laboratory which houses up to four researchers and includes clean laboratory space, living accommodation, autonomous electricity generation, and a satellite-based communications network. P.L.U.G. consists of two primary elements, a rigid enclosed laboratory and fabric super structure that are constructed using a series of functionally-complex building components that are designed to be carried and assembled by two researchers, in one day, without the use of tools. (Kaur etal. 2007) The resulting system can be mass produced and utilized in the establishment of infrastructure in remote, environmentally sensitive, and unstable environments and has implication in disaster relief housing, human heath stations, remote research, mobile educational facilities, and any other environment or event that requires rapidly deployable, self-sufficient infrastructure. The prototype laboratory was successfully deployed during the summer of 2007 and has been field tested by the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM) Bush-2-Base Bioinformatics (B2B) research group. Currently the laboratory program exists as part of a newly developed long-term research initiative surrounding Deployable Infrastructure in Support of Science and Education (DISSed Lab) initiated by the author in response to perceived demand for such accommodation.
Design and Implementation of a Pressure-Equalizing Vent System for Low-Slope Roofs
Grant, Elizabeth J. (Virginia Tech, 2003-08-21)
Winds create forces on buildings, sometimes with disastrous results. Low-slope roofs are subjected to potentially high levels of suction pressure, especially when winds strike the corner of a building, creating vortices. Traditional methods of attaching roof membranes to substrates are prone to failure when the low pressure on the roof surface instigates a transfer of forces to the roof membrane. Existing pressure-equalized roof systems use the power of the wind to transmit low pressure to the space immediately beneath the roof membrane, pulling the membrane down to the roof surface. The object of this study is the design of a wind vent which, when coupled with a single-ply roof membrane in a complete roof assembly, will successfully equalize low pressure throughout the entire field of the roof. The proposed wind vent differs from existing equalizer valves in its use of the Bernoulli effect to create low pressure. Optimized for ease of manufacturing and installation, the vent is omni-directional and contains no moving parts. After the wind vent prototype is developed, future study will be required to determine the tributary area of each vent, the interaction with the insulation beneath the membrane, the response time of the system when subjected to dynamic wind loading, the effect on the vent of various weather conditions, and the permissible amount of infiltration into the roof system. Associated research will also investigate the benefits of incorporating the heat evacuating capacity of the pressure-equalizing roof vent system into a roof membrane containing an amorphous photovoltaic array.
Design: Encouraging Sustainability Through Persuasion
Yang, Yushi (Virginia Tech, 2013-02-08)
The thesis proposes a mobile app design along with an innovative business plan aiming to encourage sustainable purchasing. To uncover the limitations in current design practices, firstly, represented examples of sustainable design were reviewed. Then, in an attempt to bridge the gap between sustainability and design commercialization, the techniques of persuasion were studied. It is to figure out how to incorporate hot triggers into computational technologies. As an outcome of the study, the final deliverable is a social networking application that provides sustainable product reviews. Instead of following a traditional sustainable design framework, the final deliverable focuses on creating an efficient supply-and-demand circulation for sustainable products. It delivers a unique corporate proposition showing how the system works, gaining modest profits while promoting sustainable development. Based on an online survey and the user study, the value of the proposed idea was validated. Also, the usability and functionality of the app were improved based on participant feedback.
Digital Tools, Distributed Making and Design
Pfeiffer, Diane (Virginia Tech, 2009-12-01)
Given the current social and business trends with digital fabrication and communication technologies, change in the manner and means of physical object production is clearly on the horizon. Recent peripheral projects show how access to digital fabrication and communication tools pull information for making toward the user, and enable the distribution of information and product outward. They also demonstrate vibrant user innovation in smaller scale projects for both personal and commercial applications. These current trends and peripheral projects are used to help locate where design and designers may find areas of growth in a potentially less-centralized, and more varied landscape of product development and production in the future.
Exploring Electronic Storyboards as Interdisciplinary Design Tools for Pervasive Computing
Forsyth, Jason Brinkley (Virginia Tech, 2015-06-09)
Pervasive computing proposes a new paradigm for human-computer interaction. By embedding computation, sensing, and networking into our daily environments, new computing systems can be developed that become helpful, supportive, and invisible elements of our lives. This tight proximity between the human and computational worlds poses challenges for the design of these systems - what disciplines should be involved in their design and what tools and processes should they follow? We address these issues by advocating for interdisciplinary design of pervasive computing systems. Based upon our experiences teaching courses in interactive architecture, product design, physical computing and through surveys of existing literature, we examine the challenges faced by interdisciplinary teams when developing pervasive computing systems. We find that teams lack accessible prototyping tools to express their design ideas across domains. To address this issue we propose a new software-based design tool called electronic storyboards. We implement electronic storyboards by developing a domain-specific modeling language in the Eclipse Graphical Editor Framework. The key insight of electronic storyboards is to balance the tension between the ambiguity in drawn storyboards and the requirements of implementing computing systems. We implement a set of user-applied tags, perform layout analysis on the storyboard, and utilize natural language processing to extract behavioral information from the storyboard in the form of a timed automaton. This behavioral information is then transformed into design artifacts such as state charts, textual descriptions, and source code. To evaluate the potential impact of electronic storyboards on interdisciplinary design teams we develop of user study based around ``boundary objects''. These objects are frequently used within computer-supported collaborative work to examine how objects mediate interactions between individuals. Teams of computing and non-computing participants were asked to storyboard pervasive computing systems and their storyboards were evaluated using a prototype electronic storyboarding tool. The study examines how teams use traditional storyboarding, tagging, tool queries, and generated artifacts to express design ideas and iterate upon their designs. From this study we develop new recommendations for future tools in architecture and fashion design based upon electronic storyboarding principles. Overall, this study contributes to the expanding knowledge base of pervasive computing design tools. As an emerging discipline, standardized tools and platforms have yet to be developed. Electronic storyboards offer a solution to describe pervasive computing systems across application domains and in a manner accessible to multiple disciplines.
An Industrial Designer's Ethic, A Study: Products for Urban Ecology
Johnson, Bonnie Kathryn (Virginia Tech, 1999-12-08)
This body of work aims to discover opportunities for industrial design to support sustainable ways of living in a materialistic society. At first glance, sustainable living and product design seem incongruent. Perhaps through investigation of the nature of product design and models of sustainability, a plan can be established which actually strengthens the reality of each in light of social, economic and environmental issues.
Light Force: An Exploration of Light Through Design
Chen, Tzu (Virginia Tech, 2007-04-27)
What falls into the realm of light and what it means to design and the human experience? Can light be material? How does light change space into place?
Making design work: Sustainability, Product Design and Social Equity
Walker, Stuart; Dorsa, Edward A. (Kluwer, 2001)
This paper discusses the relationship between the product designer, sustainability and the creation of good quality work within the manufacturing sector. When the principles of sustainability are applied to the nature of employment it points to a new direction for design and product production where ethics, environmental issues and social wellbeing become far more important criteria for ‘success’ than is currently the norm. Awareness of the relationship between ‘work’ and sustainability is not generally being addressed, but needs to become a part of a comprehensive approach to sustainability in design school curricula.
Mobility with Dignity: A Re-formation of the Standard Walker
Blasko, Tanya Nicole (Virginia Tech, 2002-11-07)
As the population ages, the need for intelligent solutions to mobility concerns increases. Many existing products succeed in targeting the functional aspects of use but fail to address critical psychological and aesthetic elements in the design process. This thesis asks the question: can a walking device address concerns of dignity, beauty, and functionality?
POINT OF ACCESS: A user's perspective on mass transit entrance system design
Shirey, Elizabeth Levenick (Virginia Tech, 1999-06-28)
The less glamorous aspects of a transportation system's infrastructure, such as signage, ticketing systems, and wayfinding elements, typically get little or no attention from creative professionals. Instead they are purchased directly from manufacturers as minimally customized off-the-shelf components. Paradoxically, these parts that go unconsidered and undesigned are what transit riders most directly interact with, and what most affects their experience of the transit system/product. This thesis focuses specifically on the Washington DC Metro Area Transportation Authority's (WMATA) Metrorail, aiming to reshape the entrance segment of this public transportation experience by increasing both appeal and accessibility. The design process began with primary and secondary design research, using observational and interactive methods to produce an informed picture of Metrorail users' current perspectives. A design strategy was then developed from the collective research findings, which led to a period of blue-sky ideation and finally the design of elegant and accessible mass transit entrance system components.
Self-Organizing Units in an Interdisciplinary Course for Pervasive Computing Design
McNair, Lisa D.; Newswander, Chad; Coupey, Eloise; Dorsa, Edward A.; Martin, Tom; Paretti, Marie C. (ASEE, 2009-06)
We conducted a case study of a design course that focused on bringing together students from engineering, industrial design, and marketing to use pervasive computing technologies to design, coordinate, and build a “smart” dorm room for disabled individuals. The class was loosely structured to encourage innovation, critical thinking and interdisciplinarity. In this environment, teams were created, disassembled, and re-created in a self-organizing fashion. With few norms, teams were expected to be interdisciplinary, form quickly, and work together by creatively integrating their disciplinary expertise. In observing this semester-long class, we found certain conditions that will enhance pedagogical tools designed to expedite team formation and improve collaborative practices in a classroom setting. Similar to open source software development, we found that groups can form randomly in a loosely coordinated environment that is both self-managing and self-directing if instructors create a strong normative foundation to the class. In this case study, we observed that the applied concept of self-organizing buffered with strong faculty input invests group members with a greater commitment to be productive, effective, and innovative.
Situativity Approaches for Improving Interdisciplinary Team Processes
Kim, Kahyun; McNair, Lisa D.; Coupey, Eloise; Martin, Tom; Dorsa, Edward A.; Kemnitzer, Ron (ASEE, 2010)
Interdisciplinary teaming requires not only multiple levels of expertise but also social competencies gained through interactive contexts. In the classroom, a situativity approach that encourages student engagement can help students learn to value differing perspectives. To foster students’ interdisciplinary collaborative skills, an interdisciplinary capstone design class that brings students and faculty from electrical and computer engineering, industrial design, and marketing was developed and twelve fourth-year students participated (four from each discipline). The students were tasked with designing a next generation firefighter helmet that incorporates innovative computing technology. Various interventions such as learning modules and teaming exercises were implemented throughout the class to help students learn how to communicate across disciplines. Direct observation, interviews, questionnaires, and assessment of course assignments indicated both benefits and limitations of the class. Implications and future directions are also discussed.
Wearable Pulse Oximetry in Construction Environments
Forsyth, Jason B. (Virginia Tech, 2010-03-29)
The goal of this project was to determine the feasibility of non-invasively monitoring the blood gases of construction workers for carbon monoxide exposure via pulse oximetry. In particular, this study sought to understand the impact of motion artifacts caused by the worker's activities and to determine if those activities would prevent the blood gas sensor from detecting the onset of carbon monoxide poisoning. This feasibility study was conducted using a blood oxygen sensor rather than a blood carbon monoxide sensor for several reasons. First, blood gas sensors that measure blood carbon monoxide are not readily available in suitable physical form factors. Second, sensors for blood oxygen and blood carbon monoxide operate on the same physical principles and thus will be affected in the same way by worker motions. Finally, using a blood oxygen sensor allowed the study to be conducted without exposing the human subjects to carbon monoxide. A user study was conducted to determine the distribution of motion artifacts that would be created during a typical work day. By comparing that distribution to a worst-case estimate of time to impairment, the probability that helmet will adequately monitor the worker can be established. The results of the study show that the helmet will provide a measurement capable of warning the user of on setting carbon monoxide poisoning with a probability greater than 99%.
Why We Draw: An Exploration Into How and Why Drawing Works
Mills, Jonathan Edward (Virginia Tech, 2010-05-14)
Visual information allows us to experience concepts in a way that is analogous to the real world; an image represents the semantic meaning of a concept and does so without conforming to the structural or syntactic rules of standard language. Drawing is therefore an agile form of communication, able to maneuver around barriers that impede the exchange of ideas between one profession and another where the difference in cultural dialects gives rise to translation complications. This thesis argues that the value of visual information lies not in the final, finished images, but during the creation of those images, during the action of drawing. If drawings are generally considered a form of communication, then drawing is a form of visual conversation; much like spoken language, its message unfolds as it is performed, and we make meaning from that performance. Following an exploration of the visual and cognitive systems integral to interpreting visual information, a discussion of language structure and sources of language conflict sets the stage for employing the act of drawing as a collaborative tool in cross-disciplinary settings. Proposed is a set of principles guiding this use of drawing which builds upon the research findings herein. These principles are structured to be usable by all professions, regardless of artistic background or traditional practice, and to encourage a reevaluation of drawingâ s role in the problem-solution process.
With Children in Mind…
D'Alessandro, Elena (Virginia Tech, 2003-09-10)
Industrial design is meant to improve the design of mass produced objects and by doing so to contribute to improve the users' quality of life. The designer's challenge is to balance functionality, aesthetic appeal and ease of use to create a successful market product. This industrial design thesis presents a pediatric examination table. Within the context of the new trends for healthcare design, it looks forward to contributing to the pediatric healthcare quality with an innovative product. Thus its design criteria must respond in both physical and emotional terms, to the users' needs and especially to their dreams. The pediatric examination table must be functional, aesthetically appealing, mechanically simple, and economic. And it can't just happen to be for children it must be designed with children in mind.
The Xcel Sleeve: Fall Prevention Through Digital Strength Training
Kauffman, Joseph Ulrich IV (Virginia Tech, 2009-05-04)
In America, a person has a 1 in 3 chance of falling each year once they reach the age of 65. When someone falls, they risk bodily injury. There are products available to help people when they fall, but they are only effective once a person reaches a point where they are at risk of falling. In order to reduce an individual's chance of falling as they age, preventive measures must be taken before the problems develop. With the use of digital technology, adults can be properly instructed on how to keep they bodies strong and balanced for there golden years. This thesis documents the research, conceptualization, and development of the Xcel Sleeve.

Browsing by Author "Dorsa, Edward A."

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