DIY Design and Fabrication -- Carnegie Mellon University

Lectures: Mon and Wed 12:00 PM - 1:50 PM
                 @ Scaife Hall 234
Studio Locations: TechSpark

Level:   Introductory graduate course
Units:    12

Scope of Course

The traditional principles of mass production are being challenged by concepts of highly customized and personalized goods. A growing number of do-it-yourself (DIY) inventors, designers, makers, and entrepreneurs is accelerating this trend.

This class offers students hands-on experiences of DIY product design and fabrication processes. Over the course of a semester, students work individually or in small groups to design a customized and personalized product of their own and build it using various DIY fabrication methods, including 3D laser scanning, 3D printing, laser cutting, vacuum forming, etc. Students develop multiple prototypes throughout the semester, iterating and refining their design.

Students are expected to spend 6 ~7 hours a week for hands-on design, prototyping, and report generation. The hands-on work is complemented by two 110 min lectures a week, reading assignments on design and manufacturing as well as guest talks on DIY design and fabrication. Students are expected to document and share their work online for feedback and suggestions from other students (potential customers).

Format

Class meets 110 minutes twice a week. Students are expected to spend ~9 hours a week for reading, hands-on work, reporting, and meeting with the teaching staff.

Teaching Staff

Prof. Kenji Shimada (Instructor) Office: Room B06, Scaife Hall Email: shimada @ cmu.edu

Aman Chulawala (TA) Email: achulawa @ andrew.cmu.edu		Kristin Kye (TA) Email: kkye @ andrew.cmu.edu
Amanda Witt (TA) Email: aewitt @ andrew.cmu.edu		Justin Soza Soto (TA) Email: jsozasot @ cmu.edu
Melody Chu (TA) Email: mmchu @ andrew.cmu.edu		Nicole Monaco (TA) Email: nmonaco @ cmu.edu

Email Lists

To send a message to all the teaching staff (use this when you ask a question about problem sets and grades):
ta-diydf@andrew.cmu.edu
To send a message to all the students (this is mainly for teaching staff use only)
diydf@andrew.cmu.edu