CMU DESIS Lab, USA

CMU DESIS Lab

Hosting institution: Carnegie Mellon University, School of Design
Address: Margaret Morrison 110, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890, USA
Tel: +412 268 2828
Fax: +412 268 3088
Website: http://www.cmu.edu

Coordinator: Kristin Hughes, Associate Professor
Tel: +412 268 7098
Fax: +412 268 3890
email: kh@cmu.edu

Operations Manager: Ashley McClinton
Tel: +412 268 2828
Fax: +412 268 3890
email: ashleymc@andrew.cmu.edu

Background:

The DESIS at Carnegie Mellon University is situated within the School of Design in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The lab was founded in November, 2011 after a realignment and repositioning of core values, inherit in many of our current on-going projects. The School of Design for many years has conducted classroom projects based upon social innovation and design for social and ecological good and the establishment of the LAB serves to formalize and expand these capabilities to all levels within the program. This LAB is still in its early stages of formulation.

Objective:

•  Promote social innovation and social entrepreneurship  through design within the school’s curriculum and research projects to educate the next generation of designers to work on behalf of society and the environment

•  Partner with regional and other international DESIS Labs to: secure funding for large projects;  share knowledge/best practices

•  Propose new visions/initiatives/projects to be developed in partnership with local communities, non-profits and other stakeholders which contribute to a more sustainable and vibrant community

•  ‘Map’ existing local efforts and collaborate with local communities, non-profits and other stakeholders to ‘amplify’ and strengthen these projects through design and design research.

Activities:

The school is actively looking for non-profit and corporate partners to fund research inside and outside the classroom. Previous projects have included software/app development of a crowd-sourced real-time arrival system that enables riders to co-produce the information they want and encourages more use of public transportation, co-creation of a center for teens in a low-income neighborhood, a project to revitalize an under-served community through the co-creation of a community garden, and a project that uses communication design to help refugees settle into new living situations in local communities.

Primary Research Areas:

•  Community health and health literacy

•  Ecoliteracy education

•  Community diversity

•  Design for aging populations

•  Ecoliteracy education

Future Programs:

We are designing a summer-based course in ecoliteracy which looks at the connections and symbiotic relationships between the regional environment and urban-dwelling. We are developing an ‘incubator’ within which student and faculty research in the area of social innovation can be developed and launched as viable business propositions.

Main Partners:

DESIS Labs at Parsons, DesignMatters and SCAD. We are seeking to develop new partnerships with for-profit, non-profits, industry and foundations.

Project Examples:

Fitwits is a system of games, health communications and services that enable individuals, families, peer groups and communities customized opportunities for action towards lifestyle transformation. The program allows people the opportunity to interact with each other, ask questions, invent new ideas, and play. Our team advocates for improved health communications and resources in all facets of individuals’ lives.