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Track Ambassador
track ambassador embrace
Stan Stelten
Personal Purpose Track
profile
Hi, I’m Stan Stelten, from Sittard, The Netherlands. And because I am from the south of the country, the province of Limburg I am also fluent in the local Dutch dialect Limburgs. Even though I speak this at home I use Dutch and English a lot more when I’m in Eindhoven or speak to international people. In Limburg I grew up in an ordinary city neighbourhood with a lots of families and kids my age to play with. Of course, being in the Netherlands there were football fields nearby.
With Fontys being sort of the closest, but for sure best college in the area I chose to go here. Because of my interests I started following the bachelor of Electrical Engineering.
Choosing a minor wasn’t made very hard for me either. Through my fellow students as well as through some of my engineering teachers I heard about the minor program Embrace TEC. They all had the advice to join this minor, hearing it from so many people I ended up joining. Within the Embrace TEC minor I chose to go for the Personal Purpose track because this track has a clear starting- and endpoint. This is something that is very important for me as I am generally not the person that has to set endpoints for projects.
expectations
This week we get to know the track ambassador even better and see what expectations they have of the minor and the track.
project
Since the project I’m working on, Sensai Punching Bag, is a continuation of another project there was already a lot done, mostly a prototype was already made but it has some flaws and it could use some improvements. I’m doing this project with another track member we are continuously brainstorming on what to do next.
So in the first week we mostly came up with a plan on what we wanted to achieve and came up with some ideas we wanted to implement.
In the second week we started to ask around (mostly in the purpose track) what other people would like to see added to the project.
My goals is to create a more sophisticated prototype with more functions that are wanted by the target group. This includes features like making noises when someone punches it, make two of them so you can hold a competition against friends. And maybe come up with styling ideas to get more attention.
What I enjoyed the most so far is seeing the different ideas and angles that everyone has on the same subject.
What I will try to do differently in the upcoming weeks is to try to take on another point of view and see new opportunities
deepdive: what
How do you come to a ‘what’ when designing a solution? What is the intended learning goal of finding this out?
Jasper & Romy
track owners
The What comes from all the ideas you might have when thinking about a solution. Sometimes these ideas are already quite clear from the beginning, but often it is developed in a Design Process. You can find many ideas, choose the best one and then develop that one further. When you make a first prototype of a solution it can become clear that it becomes much better by changing and choosing a slightly different direction.
Such a solution can also be called an opportunity. An opportunity to make a difference, to create something that didn’t exist before and that makes life a little easier of more fun for someone. We are teaching how to develop solutions to enable our students to actively shape the world around them. We want them to turn their uniqueness into value.
For me the “what” is an easy choice. I’ve always been keen on working with electronics, whether it is programming or fiddling with electronics. So for my what I wanted to create something that includes electronics. When I got the chance to work with a project that needed some improvement on the electronic and coding department I jumped right onboard. So for the first two cycles of the Purpose Track I work on improving the Sensai Punching bag to make it more interactive and interesting to play with. So my what is A Punching bag made out of recycled materials. But after two cycles and asking around I noticed that the project was getting out of hand for one person so I decided to change to something else. Because I am also interested in film props, these are iconic items used by actors, I am making a guide on how to get started with making or replicating a film prop with different techniques.
deepdive: who
Why is it important to (really) get to know your ‘who’ when designing a solution? What is the intended learning goal of finding this out?
Jasper & Romy
track owners
We’re limited by our own perspective of the world while creating solutions. At the same time we are often blind to other people’s unique views and experiences. When creating solutions that actually matter and do good it is vital to be aware of this blindspot. Our efforts can only become meaningful when we check that the created design works as intended. By designing for others we learn about our own purpose. We learn about peoples needs, what connects us all and how we can create solutions that fit perfectly to make a persons life better.
My “Who” is a very specific target group: creative/technical people who are fanatic about a movie franchise and want to have and create an iconic item from said franchise. I have chosen this target group because I belong to this group, and I struggled a bit with the beginnings. Therefore, I wanted to help this group of people start realising their dreams. By making something that is clear and understandable I hope to create an easy way to get people to enjoy the thing they like and improve their fan experience.
deepdive: why
Why is it important to get know your ‘why’ when designing a solution? What is the intended learning goal of finding this out?
Jasper & Romy
track owners
We want the students to start thinking about how they can create an impact, whether big or small, driven by their own beliefs and passions. Creating a solution for a target group in which you incorporate your own beliefs or your own ‘why’ will make a bigger impact and be more meaningful to both the creator and the end user. Whether this is volunteering in Lebanon or taking technology to a higher level; both impacts are driven by their personal purpose.
My reason for starting this project and bringing my idea to life is to help enthusiastic people start building towards their dreams to recreate movie props.
Why is this necessary you ask? Because you have to dig deep to find any good information on how to begin and what to do. With my guidebook I want to make it a lot easier to get information on specific techniques and materials. Include the fundamentals and do a little deep-dive into certain techniques. This all to get the general knowledge for the operations needed to start working on prop replication without having to do a lot of research. I also have been working on my prop replications and was scared of using certain techniques and had a lack of knowledge of different usable techniques to make processes easier. So the general reason behind this is to make general knowledge about prop replication processes more accessible to everyone.
reaction & reflection
coming soon!
