Based on your life experience, skills and interests, what would a design process that is both uniquely yours and effective look like?

My design process would be a combination of indigenous knowledge and cradle to cradle design.  My indigenous knowledge that I have gained from my years of life would impact any decisions that I will make in my own design process, and cradle to cradle design would allow for the most sustainable process that would mimic nature and reduce waste as much as possible.

How will you validate your project concept, technology, usability, operational / business model?

I would validate my business model with the results and efficiency of my design.  I believe that if you can prove how effective your model is with the results that you can produce.  If you need to validate your project before results can be achieved I think it is important to have a fully developed idea that is ready to be implemented.  All possibilities should be thought through and varies different methods should be ready to use if your first one fails.

Articulate your philosophy of engagement with communities, partners, and markets.

If the community sees your believe and enthusiasm in your project concept they will also become engaged.  Most importantly if you have good intentions for your project you will keep that engagement.

1. Give three examples of how you can use nature as a model / mentor / measure for your own designs (and life).

Nature is the perfect example of balance.  If even a small part of an ecosystem is off balance the whole system can collapse. This concept can be applied to life. If one part of one’s life is unbalanced, this can cause chaos in other parts of their life. You can use natures balance of ecosystems as a guide to keeping balance of these aspects of life. Work must be balanced with leisure in life, or unnecessary stress will follow. Another way nature can be used as an example is the order of everything in the environment. All parts of an environment have a purpose and affect other aspects of the ecosystem. This pertains to your own designs in that, you want each part to have a purpose that positively affects another. Finally, nature is delicate. If not taken care of, the environment can easily be ruined. This can relate to life and designs because one must put careful attention into aspects of their life so that they are not put into disarray.

2. Pick one of Life’s Principles. Explain how you might apply it to your work and life (could be unrelated to your GSIF projects).

The principle of optimization rather than maximization can be applied to the plastic project. This applies to the plastic project by in that making our products better quality before trying to make a bigger quantity is beneficial in the long run. In the beginning stages of the project it will be very hard to mass produce the products we are making, but if the women’s co-op can gain the reputation of good quality products, it can gain further support and therefore the ability to grow.

3. How do you envision integrating the Cradle to Cradle Design concept into your project (and life)? Give one compelling example.

The Cradle to Cradle Design concept can be integrated into by modeling our project on organic life processes. The plastic project is similar to a life cycle. An organic model lives and once it dies, it returns to the earth and can be used as nutrients for something else. This is like the recycling we are doing with the project. We are taking something and reprocessing it to become something else that is beneficial. One example is the Ford Model U car design that was made from Cradle to Cradle materials.

4. Give three examples of something very interesting you learned from a friend that was a completely alien concept to you.

Something interesting I have learned from a friend that was an alien concept to me, was how our actions are propagated through the brain into different parts of the body. One example is when the signal is received by receptors in a certain part of the body and then travels to the brain. The brain then sends out a signal in order to illicit the correct response. Another example is how there are different signals based on the neurons and their receptors. This is how different responses are created. One last example are the different parts of the brain that occur while the brain is developing, such as the telencephalon and the mesencephalon.

Describe the five major stakeholders for your project and their motivations.

This Plastic Project is very new, so it is still gathering its major stakeholders.  This being said, there are still some major players that are invested into our project that could lift the project to being a success.  One major stakeholder is the women’s co-op.  These are the women that will be utilizing the finished product of our project.  They will also be the main benefactors in the economic success of the project.  With micro-funding they might also be financially involved.  Other stakeholders would be the suppliers to the women’s co-op.  Whether that be wholesale retailers or supplies in another form that still need to be found so that they can be purchased in Paradise Village.  Their motivation for being involved would be the economic benefit about having another place to sell their products.  The University of the Philippines, who is partnering with Lehigh on this project, would also be stakeholder.  With that logic Lehigh would also be a major stakeholder.  Both of their motivations for being part of the project could be for philanthropy sake and also for educational purposes.  The bishops council of the Philippines, Children’s International and Likahn are also stakeholders with a philanthropic motivation.

Describe three ways in which you will validate your project and enhance your credibility over the course of the semester.

Being new to this project I think a lot of preliminary research is necessary to make me a more credible resource to contribute to the project.  After I have a general knowledge on the topic of plastic recycling and the ecosystem of Paradise Village, I think that to enhance our credibility would be a matter of working with the women in the co-op and having that connection that can take this project to the next level.  I think it is very important to see every idea to fruition, in the sense that if we do not see it all the way through and just hand this idea to the women’s co-op there could be a failure in our idea that we did not foresee because we didn’t think of every possibility with the idea.