Design
History
File
Mobile
Workspace
The Design History File (DHF) is a document intended to educate
potential and current participants on the background, objective,
development, and final specifications of a project. A living document, it
also serves as a repository for all the material created and contributed
during the Residency. The DHF and other project materials are available
on The Westport Library website in Services>MakerSpace>Maker-InResidence under “Resources” (http://westportlibrary.org/makerresidence).
Updated:
February
11th, 2014
Have an idea? I want to hear it! Submit it to mir.inspiration.station@gmail.com with a short description and your initials.
Maker: Gar Waterman
Let me introduce myself so you know where I’m coming from…
Professionally, I am a product development and R&D engineer specializing in the
multi-disciplinary and application-specific design of devices and instrumentation for
medical and life sciences fields. I have been employed primarily in the research sector
and have had exposure to both industry and business. My work in laboratories has
been in the fields of biology, chemistry, and neural engineering. I grew up in
Westport and often times found myself at the Library as a young reader and learner.
Nowadays, I enjoy hosting and cooking, mountaineering and backpacking, and, as an
extension to my professional life, value engineering education and making medical and life science technologies more
accessible to those that need them. I look forward to seeing you soon and hearing your ideas.
Education
B.S. Biomedical Engineering, Bucknell University, Class of 2011
Post-Graduate Coursework: Optical Engineering, Penn State University, Fall 2012 – Spring 2013
Industry R&D and Design Experience
Research Technologist, Penn State University, Fall 2011 – Fall 2013
Designed and developed custom components and instruments for neurovascular research
Capstone Project, Bucknell University, Fall 2010 – Spring 2011
Designed medical device to address the threat of gaseous microemboli in extracorporeal tubing
Engineering Consultant, Small Business Development Center, Summer 2010
Assisted local businesses to find solutions to engineering problems and develop their products
Benchtop Research Experience
Researcher, Heintzelman Laboratory at Bucknell University, Fall 2010 – Spring 2011
Characterized molecular motors and macromolecular assemblies used to power gliding motility in a raphid diatom
Researcher, Williams Laboratory at Bucknell University, Summer 2010
Spectroscopic characterization of solvent-sensitive fluorophores
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Have an idea? I want to hear it! Submit it to mir.inspiration.station@gmail.com with a short description and your initials.
Objectives
My objective as Maker-In-Residence is to not only facilitate a collaborative construction process, but to also make the
processes of ideation, design, and prototypical realization more transparent. Besides documenting these processes, the
tangible goal of the residency is to build a workspace that successfully includes the following essential features:
1.
2.
3.
4.
1
Can accommodate multiple people
Can accommodate multiple purposes
Is mobile
Is library appropriate
Multiple people must be able to use the space at the same time. Demand for currently available rooms is high,
an average of nearly 100 requests being received every month. These requests can be from those wishing for
cooperative study and learning space, for meeting and videoconferencing space, and for other functions that need
multiple people to occupy the same space. Driving questions: How can the space comfortably accommodate not only
multiple people, but varied numbers of people? What, in particular, do multiple people need in a space that a single
person possibly does not? What features can we include that facilitate group collaboration?
2
Different groups will have different needs for the space. From readers to hackers to businessmen and women to
artists, the library sees all types come through its doors. Correspondingly, the meeting spaces at the library see
the whole spectrum of practical, artistic, and professional collaborations. Driving questions: How can the space cater
to the variegated needs of its potential users? What functions will the space include that make it easily accessible to
application-specific use? How will the space be able to change from one use to the next?
3
The mobility of the space is one of the necessary features because of the nature of the environment in which it is
to be utilized. The library is both a size-limited and dynamic space, and becoming more so; additions to the
library environment must be collapsible/stowable and moveable. Driving questions: How can the space be mobilized?
How can the space collapse or stow away? How can it deal with the different environments it may be placed in? How
will it be easily set up and broken down by all users?
4
The space, being designed for the library, must naturally be library-appropriate. The library environment has not
only a particular decorum, but also serves several roles in its community. It is no longer just a repository for
physical books, but a meeting, learning, and work space, too. Driving questions: How will the space fit into the
library setting, e.g. sound levels, appearance? How will the space engage, enhance, and facilitate library goals (e.g.
WPL strategic plan: http://westportlibrary.org/1225) for serving the community? How can the space meet changes in
library roles?
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Have an idea? I want to hear it! Submit it to mir.inspiration.station@gmail.com with a short description and your initials.
Inspiration
Here are some examples of spaces that address the dynamic and constraining needs of their environment. I am always
looking for more, so send your inspirations to mir.inspiration.station@gmail.com.
Toshihiko Hazama’s Armoir Box Office
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/office-in-a-box
Adi Marom’s Folding Rooms
http://vimeo.com/6276078
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Have an idea? I want to hear it! Submit it to mir.inspiration.station@gmail.com with a short description and your initials.
Tim Vinke’s Kruikantoor (“wheelbarrow office”)
http://www.designboom.com/design/tim-vinke-kruikantoor/
Example Exercises
Here are some exercises for you to warm up the analytical and creative sides of your brain – you’ll need both. There
are no correct answers – stop in during my office hours and I’ll tell you my answers and approaches. Whatever you
work on, please leave your materials behind for others to be inspired by!
Measuring without a Ruler
Having a sense of distance, weight, time, etc. is an important practical skill for an engineer, especially when
dealing with the construction and assemblage of prototypes, which are composed of pieces that you may not
necessarily have a tangible familiarity with.
Take a look at the four small columns that display art in the great hall between the Maker Space and the
circulation desk. Without using a ruler or other measuring tool, try to approximate the length of one of the walls
of the columns. Explain how you went about it. What tools did you use and how did you apply them?
Next, try to measure their height. Explain how you went about it. Now try to approximate the height of the great
hall at its highest point. Again, explain how you went about it. Draw a picture of how you applied your makeshift tools. How did your approaches differ (if they did) between the width of the column, the height of the
column, and the height of the ceiling and why?
Synesthesia
Synesthesia is the mix-up of senses – when you have the impression of tasting sound, for example, or seeing
music. It is an important concept in the study of the brain and higher psychological function and also a useful
exercise to stimulate creativity.
Answer the following questions to the best of your ability, you can use a word or a sentence, however you feel
accurately answers the questions. If you could taste the sun, what would it taste like? Would it taste different
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Have an idea? I want to hear it! Submit it to mir.inspiration.station@gmail.com with a short description and your initials.
than the moon? A clear blue sky? If so, how would the moon and sky taste? Would a cloudy sky taste different
than a blue one and if so, how?
If you could see sound, what would the sound of a drum look like? Draw it if you are more comfortable
expressing yourself that way, but also try and put it into words. Would the sound of a flute look
different and if so, how?
Draw emotions by scribbling on a pad – don’t necessarily draw a picture, instead draw spirals,
shapes, squiggles, whatever you think represents that emotion. Love, Jealousy, Joy, Sadness. Why
are they different? Would you use different colors for them? Why did you draw what you drew?
Ideal Workspace
Describe in bullet points what your ideal workspace is like. Is it a comfy chair next to a blazing
fireplace with rain pattering on the window and smooth jazz in the background? Is it in the Andes
with your faithful pet llama at your side? What are you sitting in or are you standing? Warm or
cold? Bright or low-lit? Organic or urban? What do you have to eat or drink? Think about what
each of the five senses are experiencing and write it down.
Roadmap
Ideation (week 1-2)
•Community-driven
brainstorm and prototyping
•Settle on concept to move
forward with, parse modular
aspects/compartmentalize
multiple sub-projects
Expansion (week 2-4)
•Assembly of independent
sub-projects
Realization (week 2-3)
Wrap-Up (week 4)
•Building of full scale base
•Presentation of final product
•Outlines of ideas for further
expanding product (subprojects)
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