Q1MikelKing

Document Q1MikelKing

1. Your Name

Mikel King (I go by Mikyo)

2. Your field of study?

Computer Science (graduate degree)

3. In which semester of study are you?

first semester

4. Why are you interested in taking this course?

As a working professional in the technology industry, I am continually faced with design issues that make it very challenging to create a 'creative product.' For example, I am currently working on a handheld device with a touch interface but the screen we would like to use is approaching what we call 'end of life.' This means that we either must take a financial risk by making a life time buy of the part or we must look for alternatives that might not be quite as good. The reason I would like to be in this course is not just to learn ways to more creatively design things, but to learn how to work with real life constraints without compromising the innovative aspect of the design. Another reason I would like to take this course is because so much of the technology today centers around what the customer needs and I would like to learn how to incorporate these requirements into my designs. At my current company, we have put what we call VOC (voice of the customer) as a priority. However there are many situations in which the VOC might get lost in the design or the VOC must be thrown out due to market shifts. Thus, I would like to learn methods to incorporate VOC as well as the creativity of the design team into the final design. It seems that the boundaries of what we can do with technology are being pushed every day. The competition to make the next 'creative product' seems fiercer than ever. I would like to understand not only what it takes to make such a product but also how to get an innovative product out in the market quickly. I have considered myself a pretty creative person over the years but recently I have found it very difficult to 'think outside the box.' With the amount of research that has gone into things such as design patterns, it feels daunting to even try new things. I would like to learn not only how to 'think outside the box' but also how to leverage existing research and technology to further my creativity.

5. What courses / work activities / background knowledge do you have which might be relevant to this course?

I took a senior design course this year in which I designed a system for the FAA that reduced runway incursions. I have also taken courses in computer graphics and AI. Last summer I worked at Cisco Systems where Web 2.0 is considered the next frontier. Last fall I organized an event where people created open source software to aid the disabled. I am also currently working on a desktop application at work that displays charts and graphs of the wireless interferers in the air.

6. Indicate your own digital literacy / fluency:
6.1. Describe your programming experience (languages, projects)

Languages: C, C++, Java, *nix, JavaScript, agent programming, multi-threaded programming, openGL, HTML, Unit Testing, Shell Scripting, Assembly Projects: Implemented key subsystems of an instructional Operating system using C and C++, worked on a software engineering project to minimize runway incursions for the FAA

6.2. What applications are you familiar with (e.g. Photoshop, Canvas, Dreamweaver,...)?

Visual Studio, NetBeans, Some Photoshop

7. Give a brief description of the most important book / article which you have read with respect to the topic of the course.

I did a research paper on savants while I was taking a neuroscience class and the article I read on how certain savants were able to find different ways of interpreting and compartmentalizing "data" from the world around us was particularly interesting to me. I think this article relates to this class in that it showed me that often creativity requires a different way of looking at the world around us.

8. What do you hope and expect to learn from this course?

I am interested in all three subjects (design, creativity, and new media) but I am particularly interested in how the three relate to one another. While I have taken SW engineering courses, there has never been much mention of how to make a design "creative." I am also pretty unfamiliar with the various new media out there and would like to familiarize my self with them.