Community partner visit: the Baltimore Foundery

Andres, Jack, Ryan and I helped out today at the Foundery cleanup. I helped to get an old Shop Vac working again, an we swept, vacuumed, and moved tables and equipment around.

Behind Jack and Andres is a laser cutter; the Superman symbol that Andres is holding and the wooden eyeglasses on Jack were both made in that machine.

 

This is Audrey Van de Castle, self described "welder blacksmith sculptor bad ass"  and instructor at B'More Foundery. If we have any hope of welding together a frame that won't come apart during the race down Key Highway, this is our Goddess.

Design Idea #2: Plastic Bottle Boat

With about 1000 pounds of bikes and riders to float in the Baltimore Harbor, how many plastic bottles would it take? How will we integrate boat hull and bicycle frames? Let me know if you figure that out.

Great Moments in Recycling

We received our beautiful "KSR plastic bottle drive" posters yesterday from Commonvision. The design, mostly hand drawn by team member Mai Huynh, features an image of a plastic water bottle and the sketch of a city street around it. I set up a collection bin with the sign in front of it, and then returned a few hours later to see how many bottles we collected.
By 9:30 pm we had collected... one Starbucks coffee cup. Was this a subtle hint that we should construct the sculpture out of coffee cups instead? After all, Americans dispose of 25 billion coffee cups per year (http://www.carryyourcup.org/get-the-facts).
But as I looked around the hallway in which the bin was placed, there were no trash cans or other kinds of recycling.  So I placed a trash can next to the collection bin.
So we shall see if the trash alternative helps. In the meantime, what do we do with all the coffee cups??

Generative tensions

In graduate school my arts in education professor, Jessica Hoffmann Davis, framed our analyses in terms of "generative tensions." As I listen to artists and engineers and environmental educators and entrepreneurs negotiate what form our kinetic sculpture might take, I can hear how generative - how creative - such tension can be. The artist has been asking questions primarily about engineering and the engineers ask about the form the art will take. Does form follow function, or vice versa? Will the spectators understand our theme of sustainability (our "up cycle")? How will we interact with the crowd? Can the sculpture also serve as a musical instrument as well as a sculpture and a pedal powered cycle that can float?

Another piece of the sustainability puzzle: Turning plastic bottles into string.
Rather than purchasing new fasteners, our kinetic sculpture team should consider this upcycling technique with used plastic bottles:
http://www.core77.com/blog/materials/the_most_creative_recycling_weve_seen_yet_turn_plastic_bottles_into_string_27206.asp

Design Idea #1: Bamboo Boat Bike

I know, we need a better name. Suggestions? Here's the concept:
When he visited Vietnam, Vijay saw boats made out of bamboo called "gondolas."
Along the themes of sustainability and renewable resources, what if we built our sculpture out of bamboo in a boat shape? Four riders, one in the bow, two side by side in the middle, and one in the back. Four wheels, all powered. Still trying to figure out how to steer the thing on land.

Resilience and group creativity

"It's not about being THE best; it's about being YOUR best." - Roy Anderson


At our Thursday night design jam we began by discussing the qualities of resilient groups that enable team members to overcome obstacles and bounce back from failures:
- Clearly identifying a common goal
- Building mutual understanding and respect
- Giving positive reinforcement
- Honest and comfortable communication (being open) with one another
- Thinking outside the box (creating a creative atmosphere)
- Pushing boundaries
- Maintaining effort, drive, and determination
- Goal setting and Accountability
- Inviting outside interaction, new and fresh perspectives on the project
- Balancing enough support (financial, technical, community) with challenge to create a "zone of proximal development" (Vygotsky's term)
- Believing in the ideas generated, then following through
- Remembering to have fun and play great music at design/build sessions


We added Kaili to the team, who will be researching the health benefits of working in this group (how we balance multiple demands on our time, deal with stress, keep communication flowing, use humor, fun and excitement to fuel progress, etc.).