"What they are showing and what they are saying fit together very
nicely. Doing the design is one thing, but you have to be able to sell
it to that mayor, and that is something completely different. You have
to do that through the presentation phase, and these students did an
excellent job."
Wilson points out that the projects offer insight and vision to real-world
problems. Casey Collins, a senior from Lafayette, says that requires
different thinking for the students.
"During our one-year internships (the program requires students
to work professionally for a year prior to graduation), we had to think
'inside the box' because there were so many parameters that restrict
us things like cost, local political restrictions and regulations, those
sorts of things. But with this project, back in the classroom, we are
encouraged to think 'outside the box.' Nothing is out of bounds."
Wilson divided the project into three four-week phases: defining the
project, framework plan and concept development, and, finally, concept
refinement. She escorted the students on field trips to Chicago, Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Louisville so they could see what problems
other Midwest cities face.
"As cities become more and more populated, the 3,500-pound automobile
is unrealistic to move people around," Wilson says, "especially
the last mile, the short distance between business meetings or to lunch."
That's where the Segway comes in. Developed at a cost of $100 million,
the Segway relies on gyros, miniscule motors and tilt sensors that mimic
the human body's ability to balance and propel itself forward and back.
Inventor Dean Kamen hopes it will revolutionize the transportation industry
in major cities like Chicago.
"The Segway is really what made this project unique," Wilson
says.
Sponsored by the John David Mooney Foundation, the Central Michigan
Avenue Association and Purdue University, the student projects were
on display at the foundation's third-floor gallery, 114 W. Kinzie Ave.,
Chicago, through Jan. 25.
Contact Kim Wilson at wilson@hort.purdue.edu
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