For the past month, the team at Goddard Tech has let me probe around and get a feel for the world of design consulting. They taught me everything from creating SolidWorks models of concepts to using a Dremel to piece together a prototype. (I even helped out with a few different projects!) But the most valuable piece I’ve discovered is you can’t design reality (or imagination) without balance. Humor with productivity, details with the big picture, and engineering with art.
I might be stating the obvious, but it’s not always been the case.
For years, companies across industries have compartmentalized their employees. Engineers come up with mechanisms in one room at the same time that industrial designers are ensuring the product will sell. Then, the leaders of each come together to hatch out a union. The result is a well-that’s-not-quite-what-we-had-in-mind scenario that probably cost the company more time and money than it should have.
Goddard tech is a unique design firm because they’ve mastered the intersection of mechanical engineering and industrial design. The desks of the ID guys are scattered between the engineers’ and everyone can see what others are working on over their cubicle (which comes in handy if you need to ask someone for a caliper or want to share a humorous article). If you ever visit Goddard, you’ll see their orange walls, overflowing dry-erase boards, and people CAD-ing to the classic rock from Phil’s speakers. They’ve got an awesome dynamic which reflects on their work.
The practical skills will be useful when I return to another MIT semester, but getting to know the Goddard team made the experience.
