This class investigates the use of computers in architectural design and construction. It begins with a pre-prepared design computer model, which is used for testing and process investigation in construction. It then explores the process of construction from all sides of the practice: detail design, structural design, and both legal and computational issues.

The theme that unites the Level II studios in the fall semester is a focus upon the ‘making of architecture and built form’ as a tectonic, technical and materially driven endeavor. It is a design investigation that is rooted in a larger culture of materiality and the associated phenomena, but a study of the language and production of built form as an integrated response to the conceptual proposition of the project. The studio will look to works of architecture where the material tectonic and its resultant technology or fabrication become instrumental to the realization of the ideas, in whatever form they may take. This becomes the ‘art of technology’ – suggesting a level of innovation and creative manipulation as part of the design process to transform material into a composition of beauty and poetry as well as environmental control. In this regard the studio will look to the works and design processes of a number of architects including Shigeru Ban, Peter Zumthor, Herzog and deMeuron, Kazuyo Sejima, Richard Horden, Rick Joy and Glenn Murcutt among others.

Have you ever wondered why it takes such a long period of time for NASA to build space exploration equipment? What is involved in manufacturing and building a rover for the Red Planet? During this lesson, students will discover the journey that a Mars rover embarks upon after being designed by engineers and before being prepared for launch. Students will investigate the fabrication techniques, tolerance concepts, assembly and field-testing associated with a Mars exploratory rover.

This course explores the reciprocal relationships among design, science, and technology by covering a wide range of topics including industrial design, architecture, visualization and perception, design computation, material ecology, and environmental design and sustainability. Students will examine how transformations in science and technology have influenced design thinking and vice versa, as well as develop methodologies for design research and collaborate on design solutions to interdisciplinary problems.

In this lesson students will learn the 8 steps of the Engineering Design Process.  

This course will guide graduate students through the process of using rapid prototyping and CAD/CAM devices in a studio environment. The class has a theoretical focus on machine use within the process of design. Each student is expected to have completed one graduate level of design computing with a full understanding of solid modeling in CAD. Students are also expected to have completed at least one graduate design studio.

This is an advanced subject in computer modeling and CAD CAM fabrication, with a focus on building large-scale prototypes and digital mock-ups within a classroom setting. Prototypes and mock-ups are developed with the aid of outside designers, consultants, and fabricators. Field trips and in-depth relationships with building fabricators demonstrate new methods for building design. The class analyzes complex shapes, shape relationships, and curved surfaces fabrication at a macro scale leading to new architectural languages, based on methods of construction.

This is an advanced course on modeling, design, integration and best practices for use of machine elements such as bearings, springs, gears, cams and mechanisms. Modeling and analysis of these elements is based upon extensive application of physics, mathematics and core mechanical engineering principles (solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, manufacturing, estimation, computer simulation, etc.). These principles are reinforced via (1) hands-on laboratory experiences wherein students conduct experiments and disassemble machines and (2) a substantial design project wherein students model, design, fabricate and characterize a mechanical system that is relevant to a real world application. Students master the materials via problems sets that are directly related to, and coordinated with, the deliverables of their project. Student assessment is based upon mastery of the course materials and the student’s ability to synthesize, model and fabricate a mechanical device subject to engineering constraints (e.g. cost and time/schedule).

As the digital revolution brings with it radical changes in how and what we learn, people must continue to learn all the time. New technologies make possible new approaches to learning, new contexts for learning, new tools to support learning, and new ideas of what can be learned. This course will explore these new opportunities for learning with a special focus on what can be learned through immersive, hands-on activities. Students will participate in (and reflect on) a variety of learning situations, and will use Media Lab technologies to develop new workshops, iteratively run and refine the workshops, and analyze how and what the workshop participants learn.

This course provides a hands-on introduction to the resources for designing and fabricating smart systems, including CAD/CAM/CAE; NC machining, 3-D printing, injection molding, laser cutting; PCB layout and fabrication; sensors and actuators; analog instrumentation; embedded digital processing; wired and wireless communications. This course also puts emphasis on learning how to use the tools as well as understand how they work.

This class investigates cognitive science and technology as it is applied to the industrial design process. The class introduces prototyping techniques and approaches for objective evaluation as part of the design process. Students practice evaluating products with mechanical and electronic aspects. Evaluation processes are applied to creating functioning smart product prototypes. This is a project oriented subject that draws upon engineering, aesthetic, and creative skills. It is geared toward students interested in creating physical products which encompass electronics and computers, aimed at including them in smart scenarios. Students in the class will present readings, learn prototyping skills, create a product prototype, and complete a publication style paper.

In this sophomore design course, you will be challenged with three design tasks: a first concerning water resources/treatment, a second concerning structural design, and a third focusing on the conceptual (re)design of a large system, Boston’s Back Bay. The first two tasks require the design, fabrication and testing of hardware. Several laboratory experiments will be carried out and lectures will be presented to introduce students to the conceptual and experimental basis for design in both domains.
This course was based in large part on the Fall 2005 offering of 1.101, developed by Prof. Harold Hemond.

In this sophomore design course, you will be challenged with three design tasks: a first concerning water resources/treatment, a second concerning structural design, and a third focusing on the conceptual (re)design of a large system, Boston’s Back Bay. The first two tasks require the design, fabrication and testing of hardware. Several laboratory experiments will be carried out and lectures will be presented to introduce students to the conceptual and experimental basis for design in both domains.
This course was based in large part on the Fall 2005 offering of 1.101, developed by Prof. Harold Hemond.

This sophomore-level course is a project-oriented introduction to the principles and practice of engineering design. Design projects and exercises are chosen that relate to the built and natural environments. Emphasis is placed on achieving function and sustainability through choice of materials and processes, compatibility with natural cycles, and the use of active or adaptive systems. The course also encourages development of hands-on skills, teamwork, and communication; exercises and projects engage students in the building, implementation, and testing of their designs.

This course introduces the theory and technology of micro/nano fabrication. Lectures and laboratory sessions focus on basic processing techniques such as diffusion, oxidation, photolithography, chemical vapor deposition, and more. Through team lab assignments, students are expected to gain an understanding of these processing techniques, and how they are applied in concert to device fabrication. Students enrolled in this course have a unique opportunity to fashion and test micro/nano-devices, using modern techniques and technology.

Product Design and Development is a project-based course that covers modern tools and methods for product design and development. The cornerstone is a project in which teams of management, engineering, and industrial design students conceive, design and prototype a physical product. Class sessions are conducted in workshop mode and employ cases and hands-on exercises to reinforce the key ideas. Topics include identifying customer needs, concept generation, product architecture, industrial design, and design-for-manufacturing.

This unit will introduce students to trusses. Students will follow the Engineering Design Process to build a balsa wood truss that can be tested for efficiency.Prior to assinging this project, it is reccommended that you access the Design Process Lesson available through OER authored by Matt Bova and Devon Rupp.

In this Public Service Design Seminar (PSDS), we will design and build products with developmentally disabled students at the Protestant Guild Learning Center in Waltham, MA. The class will work closely with community clients to make sure that what is developed is helpful and functional. These products will be built using the Hobby Shop equipment, the water jet machine in particular. Over the course of the seminar, this class will teach students how to use the OMAX® Jet Machining Center commonly called the water jet and associated OMAX® software. The product development process will also be detailed in depth: determining customer needs, concept development, prototyping, design, and manufacturing.