2018 Summer Trip: Overview from Project Lead Alex Atkinson
- BLUElab Thailand
- Feb 2, 2019
- 2 min read
Head over to UMich IPE’s (International Programs in Engineering) blog to read Alex Atkinson, current project lead, share photos and describe his thoughts on returning to Chiang Mai and Mae Chan for our 2018 Prototype Feedback/Testing Trip.
Excerpts below:
PREDEPARTURE POST: “To be honest I am having some mixed feelings about going to Thailand. I am now the lead of BLUElab Thailand, so I am really feeling the pressure of making sure that our trip is successful. The past two times that I was in Thailand with the University it seemed to be less serious, and the responsibility of others did not lie on me. This trip is quite different. The work me and my team has done in the past year will be put to the test. This year we will be generating and a prototype for one of our floods mitigation concepts. I’ve been brushing up on my Thai to get ready!
That being said, I am excited as well to go to Thailand. There are friends that I’ve made over my two years there that I am excited to see again. Mod and Ford, who I met during the exchange program, and Zag and Gift, who I met last year with BLUElab. ”
PREPARING FOR … THE FIELD “It was nice to take a moment and look at the relationships I’ve cultivated here, see that they have lasted over time, and know that they will continue into the future. I am excited to meet more people have more friends here.”
“Anyways the start of the project came fast and it was intense. Let’s just say that we hit the ground running. Some background – Chiang Mai University (CMU) is really curious about BLUElab’s philosophy of “socially engaged design” and wants to know how we do things. We basically said “ok we can show you” and so CMU procured a group of students to work with us on our project. Our project focuses on flood mitigation by improving pieces of critical infrastructure. Before we entered the field in Mae Chan, we had to make sure that everyone was on the same page.
We had three days to explain the entire BLUElab philosophy (concepts of sustainability and the triple bottom line, design ethnography, observations and note taking, needs assessment, concept generation and selection), and explain the history of our project and everything we had done up until this point. It was not very easy! However this was the only way that we could work together as a team and progress our project together. Also, what kind of engineer am I if I can’t explain my project to anyone regardless of their background?”
“The first thing we did was present our concepts for flood mitigation technologies to Khun Nakorn and Lrong Daeng, Lrong Daeng is the vice mayor of the Mae Chan municipality, and Khun Nakorn is the leader of the disaster mitigation and prevention team. All of our presentations were translated into Thai! We gave an overview of what BLUElab is and sketches and explanations of our concepts. Below is a picture of Professor Chinapat, our faculty collaborator from Chiang Mai University, presenting Lrong Daeng with a gift basket that has a Michigan cap. Gift Giving is important in Thailand. “
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