Inclusive design
Providing sustainable, safe and community-centred solutions
The 2021 TEDI-London summer school focussed on the contribution of engineers to meet the ‘Net Zero Carbon by 2050’ challenge. Students were tasked to investigate and propose innovative engineering solutions for Canada Water’s outdoor spaces, with specific focus on urban furniture, centred on three core themes:
Providing sustainable, safe and community-centred solutions
Incorporating re-used, recycled and natural materials as much as possible
Designing for operational efficiency and incorporating digital innovation
Students joined us virtually for three weeks over four different time zones to take on the net carbon zero by 2050 challenge. Discover why they wanted to take part and how they found the experience:
“I’m a fourth year Aerospace Engineering undergraduate. As a responsible inhabitant of planet Earth, I aspire to contribute to projects that aim to help make our home a better place for us and our future generations. TEDI-London has shown me how a multi-disciplinary and diverse team can work together to solve industrial problems. It was an extremely enjoyable experience working with such a great team – all of whom which have their unique set of skills. I hope we can keep still keep in touch, thank you TEDI-London!”
“Greetings! This is Hamdi M.S Hamad. I’m currently a graduate researcher at Arizona State University focusing on Trenchless Technology Sustainability, Performance and Safety. The TEDI-London summer school has enabled me to interact with incredibly diverse professionals and knowledge seekers from four continents. I learned in depth what different backgrounds can contribute when brought together and the strength in such a variety of disciplines.”
“I am a second-year engineering student majoring in civil engineering with architecture. I enjoyed and learned so much in the 2020 TEDI-London Summer School that I wanted to participate again this year! This year’s summer school only made my experience at TEDI better. I had the chance to work both within interdisciplinary teams and across them. Having different disciplines come together is the most powerful and productive way to solve the problems that the world is facing. It was great fun to meet so many passionate students and learn from TEDI-London’s partners. It was incredibly exciting to work with cutting-edge materials and technology tackling the waste crisis and climate change. I can’t thank TEDI-London enough for bringing us all together and providing the opportunity to tackle a global problem!”
“I am currently a final-year BEng Biomedical Engineering student hoping to undertake future work in prosthetics and orthotics. As an engineer, I have seen that teams are diverse, including many different academic backgrounds to achieve a common goal. Over the course of the TEDI-London summer school, I came to appreciate the diversity within the team much more. It was difficult connecting at first, but once we got to know each other better in our groups we were able to really draw on each other’s strengths. Not only that, but they took the time to explain some of the things they did which meant we all learnt something new too! I really enjoyed it and hope to stay in touch with the people I met!”
“Hi my name is Yingbi. I am studying for the third year of civil engineering with architecture at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. I joined the TEDI-London Summer School because I want to contribute to the creation of a sustainable environment for the next generation. It is an amazing thing to work collaboratively with partner organisations using a systematic approach to research, innovate and design in an engineering context to achieve sustainability and zero net carbon design. Additionally, the instructional courses and framework really gave me a deep understanding of my strengths and weaknesses, and gave me opportunities to improve myself. I am very fortunate to meet many friendly, kind and energetic people in the team.”
“Hey, my name is William Abbey. I am in my 4th year of a Materials Science degree at UNSW and next year I will be completing a Master of Biomedical Engineering. I have never considered urban furniture or the public realm as a field I could apply my studies, but I have a passion for sustainability and so TEDI-London’s ‘Net Zero Carbon by 2050 Challenge’ intrigued me. Throughout the 2021 Summer School, not only did I learn about sustainable living and how to complete life-cycle assessments, but I got to see first-hand the innovations being implemented to tackle the problems associated with climate change. Additionally, designing multifunctional seating with a multidisciplinary team across at least 3 different time zones was a unique experience which required me to apply and develop communication and teamwork skills.”
“Hello all, my name is Anjali Doshi and I am an Architect by profession and currently studying for a Masters Degree of construction project management and property development at University of New South Wales. Our environment is an integral part of existence. It was there before us and will be there after us. But we as humans have played a major role is disrupting our natural environment and are currently facing its adverse effects. I have always been passionate about sustainability in design and how sustainable business practices will help in reducing if not eliminating the environmental issues.”
“I am a penultimate Chemical Engineering student and interested in environmental issues. The summer school was an incredible experience. The most exciting thing was the challenge of designing urban furniture and meeting all the design’s criteria. Almost every day, we brought new ideas and thought about implementing them without compromising the safety aspect or the environmental impact. Hearing feedback or advice from experts who worked for years in the industry meant so much to us. I remember in the final presentation, the UNSW SMaRT centre representative said to us, “you can explain our products more simply and concisely more than we can do!”. Overall, it was a lot of fun and learning in the three weeks of the summer school.”
“I am a third year biomedical engineer student at King’s College London. Being able to have a part in the Canada Water Masterplan is a great way to transform theory to practice and see the impact that we can have on a community. I’ve taken great care in learning from others, whatever the situation, being able to have a different perspective enables us to work and engage better.”
“Hi, I’m Wilson. I study Statistics and Civil Engineering at UNSW. When I think back to the Summer School, I’ll always remember the small community we built. Shared experiences tie people together. Whether you live in different countries, bring with you differing philosophies, or even live completely different lives, going through the same things as others builds a sense of kinship. We will forever be the TEDI-London Summer School cohort of 2021, brought together because a myriad of different reasons led us all to the same place. Some of us were here to test the skills we had learnt over the years. Others wanted to learn something new. But all of us gained the opportunity to meet people from around the world and work on something that can make a difference. What better learning experience can you have?”