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.
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)
Written work
- AIEDAM Journal Article: A Study of the role of User-Centered Design Methods in Design Team Projects
- IASDR Conference Paper: Introducing User Centered Design to Mid-Career Professionals: Experiences to Build Upon
- CV available upon request
- Research Summary (PhD application statement of purpose)
- Poster from DCC08
- Paper for Technical report for DCC08
- Paper for DCW08
Conferences that I have attended
- Design Computing and Cognition, June 2008, Georgia Tech
- Design Creativity Workshop, June 2008, Georgia Tech
- Design Research Conference, September 2008, Chicago, IL
- SIGCHI-Human Factors in Computing Systems, April 2009, Boston, MA
- Design Research Conference, September 2009, Chicago, IL
- International Association of Societies of Design Research Conference, October 2009, Seoul, South Korea
Press coverage
Advice for grad life: applying, surviving, and thriving