My name is Justin Lai and I was a graduate student in the mechanical engineering department at MIT.
My research was under Professor Maria Yang as part of the MIT Ideation Lab, considering how people design through process and in practice, how to teach students to design products for people.

Two past areas of focus were in user-needs analysis and creativity. Recent ones include tacit knowledge, communication, and social science methods.
Two significant teaching projects I have been a part of are 2.97 Designing for People and Discover Product Design. Additionally, I am a part of a team developing resources for portfolio creation, Ideation Lab Portfolio Resources.
I am now working as the Invention Education Associate at Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams. I will stay connected in limited ways to Ideation Lab's endeavors.
(Photo credit to Tony Pulsone)

Advice for grad life: applying, surviving, and thriving