‘It’s been super eye-opening’

Borne from youthful innovation and skillful construction, the device is a product of its environment, crafted by Nueva School students enrolled in the Project Invent program encouraging youngsters to design for positive change.

Palo Alto native Emma Dulski conceptualized it years ago as a solution for those who struggle with public speaking, and has since brought on teammates Morgan Tarpenning and Katya Panchenko to further refine the vision.

“I wanted to provide a way to lend my classmates more comfort,” said Dulski, 17, in a maker lab at the San Mateo school which looks more akin to a burgeoning tech company than a traditional campus.

Dulski and her colleagues are in the process of working the kinks out of their device, with an eye on eventually adding LED features allowing it to change colors and enhance its appeal.

Once completed, the designers are planning to launch an online fundraising campaign amplifying their productivity, and ideally helping them bring the device to the market.

Facilitating the journey from dream to reality is teacher Connie Liu, an MIT grad with a design background and hearty network of business contacts who can mentor students and potentially help finance the projects.

Liu launched Project Invent at the school to help students build design thinking skills in their formative years, while also nourishing their passion for solving the world’s problems.

Maneuvering through workshops featuring laser cutters, soldering irons, laptops and stacks of assorted spare parts into a classroom resembling a corporate board room, Liu traces the path of dreams building to reality.

One moment she may offer students design guidance to refine their product and the next she could be questioning another’s business development plan.

While she enjoys helping students hone the skills which could pay dividends in college or the workplace, she seemingly finds the mindfulness training included in the design process most rewarding.

“The design thinking teaches empathy and being good problem solvers. The real world impact makes it authentic,” she said.

While Dulski’s team’s project continues to take shape, other collaborations such as the one including Noah Tavares and Madeline Park are farther along in the creation process.

Tavares and Park are part of a 12-member team creating a wearable device intended to help blind people from drifting while walking and careening into danger.

The product features sensors which engage when the user may be losing their sense of place, activating a brief vibration helping them correct their path.

To improve the usefulness, Tavares said team members collaborated with blind users — broadening his horizons regarding the challenges facing a community from which he was previously insulated.

“The most valuable thing this process has provided is getting to know individual users and getting out of your bubble,” he said.

Park shared a similar perspective.

“It has been super eye-opening,” she said.

Such a response is heartening for Liu, who is hoping to eventually take the program design from the private school campus abutting the Bay Meadows development and scale it to other communities across the Peninsula. She has already started work with students in East Palo Alto and Redwood City and believes, with the popularity of design programs locally, there are plenty of local opportunities for growth.

“This is something that should be democratized and my passion is around democratizing it,” she said.

While setting her sights on the future, Liu takes time to appreciate the success and development of her existing students.

“I love working, and seeing how much they grow through this process. It’s more rewarding than I can ever imagine,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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