MWLUG Green Project Revealed

On Thursday, August 27, 2009, we revealed the MWLUG Green Project fixture, "Wings of Collaboration" at the MWLUG Conference 2009. It survived being disassembled, moved, and reassembled in addition to being dropped a few times during the move. We were able to save a bit over 1200 pounds of carbon emissions using collaboration tools to share information including Lotus Notes, Lotus Quickr, and Lotus Sametime. In addition, we used Goggle Docs, Skype, and Mebeam.

The fixture is made from recycled corrugated cardboard that uses corn starch glue, recyclable copper tubing, recycled wood pulp and renewable pine wood, and other materials. The fixture includes 21 different wooden balls that represented the different user groups involved, the different sponsors who were graceous enough to fund this conference and Lotus. The copper tubing interconnected the balls to represent the Lotus community. Each ball is painted with the logos of each organization using non-toxic paint. After the conference, each organization will receive their wooden ball.




We are planning MWLUG Conference 2010 and what challenges a new team of students. We are looking at making the 2010 fixture a contest between different teams from different schools. More information will be coming as we develop the plans.

MWLUG Green Project Accident

The design fixture for the MWLUG Conference is almost complete. The team had to redesign the fixture because the design could not hold the weight of the structure. I had to put on my old engineering hat and help the team redesign the frame of the fixture. However, in doing so we had an accident that was almost disastrous. The redesign required replacing certain parts of the fixture with bigger components. During the replacement process we had to solder on new components. Even thought we were extremely careful and covered the entire area with aluminum foil, a slip of the propane torch by yours truly set the fixture on fire. Luckily the material does not burn that easily and we were able to put out the fire. If not, all we had to show at the conference was a few sticks and tubing.

Richard

Announcing MWLUG Conference 2009 Sessions and Speakers

The MWLUG Conference 2009 is turning out to be an incredible conference. We plan to have 27 sessions covering administration and infrastructure, application development, and business development. We will have sessions ranging from UI interface design with Chris Blatnick, BES management with John Wargo to business case studies that will be presented by Lotus customers. For business partners who are involved with Lotus Foundations we have an entire session devoted on marketing Lotus Foundations in the mist of cloud computing. We are still finalizing a few additional sessions. Hats off to the MWLUG Session Committee who has help make this possible.

MWLUG Conference 2009 Sessions

MWLUG Conference 2009 Speakers

The two day conference is packed from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM each day with sessions and fun. The two day session will be kicked off by a keynote presentation by Ed Brill.

If you are planning to come, please register online since we need to have a head count for the Chicago River and Lake Michigan boat ride on Thursday. On site registration will be accepted, but we will accept checks only, no credit card.

Final MWLUG Signage Fixture Design Complete

The MWLUG Green Project team have completed the final design of the signage fixture for the MWLUG Conference 2009. The next task is to build the fixture using the selected materials. We had a bit of problem trying to get the materials that we needed. The minimum lot size of our main material, X-board, that we were required to purchase was incredibility large, 100 sheets which would have been $8,000.00. Therefore, we had to find alternative materials that would replace the X-board. The total cost of the new material is about $50.00. If I had it my way, it would have been free. All the materials for the fixture are manufactured within the United States or locally here in Chicagoland area. It will be made from materials that have been recycled, is renewable, or can be recycled. The replacement material uses glue made from corn starch grown in the Midwest. Since the materials are purchased all locally, we saved a significant amount of carbon emission required for shipping. We will unveil the MWLUG Conference fixture on August 27 at the conference. So if you would like to know how the final fixture looks like come to the MWLUG conference.

Sketch Models

These three sketch models were created from foam core. This a fast way to convert ideas from 2D to 3D. The 1/6th scale models help give us a deeper understanding of how to make the fixture, and provide a more realistic vision of how it will look.
Brainstorming different techniques to construct our designs was crucial, especially for the 3rd idea. One of the ways that we could achieve the complex curving shape would be to score the back as shown. This would allow the material to curve in two directions.

-Angela and Brian

Final sketches

On June 25th, we had another video conference with Richard and Dave to present eight concepts. Four detailed sketches from each of us were presented, with the goal of picking the three best ideas at the end to keep working on. The first design we chose was the design labeled “1.”



This first design is two planar parts that twist and wrap around each other to form one identity. The smaller strip consists of user group names and sponsors. This design was simple and elegant and also providing space for graphics.


The second was a curved plane created out of panels that had the names of sponsors and user groups on the back. These would be able to disassemble and be offered to the visitors after the end of the convention. This allows the object to have a purpose after the conference.


Lastly was the reappearance of the wire and ball idea. This would allow people to see user group and sponsor names on individual balls suspended by a grid of wires. The curved plane would also allow ample amount of graphic space.



These were some of the other drawing presented:

IBM Innovation Center Visit

Last week on Monday, June 8, Brian and I went to the IBM Center in Chicago where the conference will be held. Soon after we arrived, Dave Charney gave a talk about UI design that was very interesting and inspirational. We then talked to the Granite user group members about the Green Project and presented our goals and processes of designing the fixture. We also looked around the center taking note of the architecture, interior design, and existing fixtures. This illustration shows what we saw and where we will be placing the fixture.


Understanding the environment of our fixture will help us make decisions about our designs as well. Our goal is to not only create a beautiful and memorable fixture, but to make sure it fits well with the feel of the conference.


Since the last talk with Dave and Richard and seeing the IBM center, we have also made new sketch ideas and expanded on our existing ideas. We liked number 6 on the first page and number 1 and 6 on the second, and will start to focus on specific designs as we narrow down our design process. We liked 6. on the first page because it takes the element of connected wires that represent a community and combines it with the form of a sphere, which emulates the globe, and the conference logo. Number 1 on the second page has two spiraling pieces that support each other.


Our next step will be to continue developing about 3 ideas through sketching, and then start to make simple 3D mock-up models.

-Angela and Brian

Material Matrix and Thumbnail sketches

Our next step was to identify possible sustainable materials, other than ones that first come to mind like wood from a hardware store. The website http://www.ecolect.net has a nice library of materials that range from paints to wood alternatives. Brian created a matrix of the materials found, providing the descriptions, uses, and where the company headquarters is located.

Link to full matrix: http://www.sendspace.com/file/bjm7gp

We then started to create thumbnail sketches, quickly sketching some ideas of what the fixture may look like and encompass. After showing and explaining the sketches to Richard and Dave, we started identifying ideas that could be explored further. This is only a first round of more sketches to come.

A couple of the ideas that showed some promise were numbers five and eleven on the first page, and some of the forms that were curvy.

The idea would be to have a hand crank powered light that would be wound by people attending the conference. This light would represent the group effort and the community.

For this sketch, the concept is to have each user group and sponsor to be labeled on each ball, that is connected to one another through a matrix of strings. This would help sponsors and user groups have their own place on the fixture while allowing us to have graphic space on the curved surface.

On Monday we will be taking a look inside the Innovation Center and get a feel for what the interior looks like. We will also be continuing to further push present ideas and provide more.

-Angela and Brian

Timeline

The Timeline shows our step by step process we will be taking towards designing the fixture.

-Angela and Brian

What is the Green Project?

Project Scope
The Midwest Lotus User Group Conference 2009 brings together the Lotus community throughout the Midwest region of the United States and provides a forum for collaboration and the exchange of knowledge. As part of the conference through the Green Project, a design team will design and build a signage fixture for the conference that embodies the vision of the conference while taking into account the effects that the design process and final product would impact our environment.

The designers will create three different designs for consideration by the evaluation team. The designers will create 3D Solidworks models of each design for the evaluation process. The selected design will be built and displayed at the conference.

Project Criteria
The signage fixture needs to be portable and fix in a box that is no bigger than 1' x 1' x 4' so that it can be carried on the Metra train and not break while going to the IBM Center in Chicago and can be carried by a single person. It needs to fit through the security scanners at the IBM Center and be easy to assemble. The fixture needs to stand approximately six feet tall when assembled and occupy a footprint of no bigger that 2.5’ x 2.5’. The materials used to create the signage needs to be made from renewable and recyclable materials.

Project Goal
The team will evaluate different materials that may be used to create the signage fixture. In evaluating the different materials they will consider a number of criterions including how much energy was used to create the material, whether the material is recyclable, whether the material is created from renewable resources, and whether the material can be sourced locally in order to minimize the carbon emissions resulting from the shipping process.

In developing the design, one of the major goals of the Green Project is to track how much carbon output is saved by using online collaboration tools. The team will use established carbon emission guidelines to track how much carbon would be emitted if they met in person either taking public transportation or personal vehicles versus performing the same task using Lotus Quickr and other online collaboration tools.

From the Green Project site, visitors will be able to follow the designers as they develop the design and see how much carbon emissions is being saved by using online collaboration tools. The blog will include the development time line and video blogs of their progress.

Richard
Phora Group

Inspiration Board

Design isn't just a verb or noun, but a process of finding a solution to a problem, whether it be a product, service, or a fixture for a conference. As industrial designers, we will be approaching this project using a step-by-step processes that we are documenting on this blog to design the fixture.



After our initial group meeting, we created a list of words that reflect the essence of the MWLUG conference and what the fixture should embody. We then connected the words to a series of images, creating a visual tool for us to take inspiration from. This inspiration board provides ideas on form, shape, colors, and ideas that will transfer into sketches of the fixture.

An example is the word “sustainable.” The connection to the images is both abstract and concrete. This not only helps us visualize the word for ideas, but it also defines the word in a uniform way that everyone can see and understand.

-Angela and Brian

Announcing the Midwest Lotus User Group Conference 2009 Green Project

As part of the Midwest Lotus User Group Conference 2009, we are announcing the Midwest Lotus User Group Conference 2009 Green Project. Building upon IBM's Smarter Planet concept, the MWLUG 2009 Green Project focuses on the development of signage and fixtures for the conference using designs that incorporate recyclable and renewable materials and Lotus technology. The goal of this project is to create signage/fixtures that have minimum impact on our environment.

This site follows the progress of the design team comprised of Industrial Design students from the University of Illinois and staff from Illumen Group and Phora Group. The design team will use Lotus Quickr for team collaboration and project management using templates developed by SNAPPS in addition to other online collaboration tools for this three-month project. Through online collaboration technologies, the goal is to reduce the energy consumption that would normally be required if team members needed to travel in order to meet. During the course of the project, the design team will factor into their design the cost of materials, energy consumption use to create the building materials, and renewability of the materials. In addition, the design team will track the amount of energy saved using the online collaboration tools.

The final completed design will be displayed during the Midwest Lotus User Group Conference held on August 27-28, 2009 in Chicago.

IBM Business Partner, Taishan Works, will host the Lotus Quickr site.