"He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may be cast." --Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519
I'm Designerly
I have been teaching, researching, and practising design
engineering since 1989. I've been involved with research and design
of cars, aircraft, spacecraft, robots, temporary structures, toys,
home appliances, and medical equipment.
My research interests include formal and informal methods of
designing, information visualization, and web-based design tools.
I'm a member of the
Design Society,
the
Design Research Society,
CSME,
IEEE,
and
INCOSE.
I'm a founding member of the
Canadian Engineering Education
Association.
I'm currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at
Ryerson University.
Terms that
describe me include:
secular
humanist,
meritocrat, and
long-winded.
Some people call me a
positivist
too, as if that were a bad thing. Go figure.
The official story of my life is available in my
my curriculum vitæ, and
you can download many of
my publications.
I (irregularly) maintain
several blogs: one on
design,
one for
calls for papers for designerly journals and conferences,
a third on
productivity,
and a couple of others.
I keep track of many interesting web resources, especially about
design,
at
Diigo. I also
collect interesting
blog and news articles.
I am on
Google,
LinkedIn,
academia.edu, and
Twitter.
Exploring Design
Design is what we do when we don't know what to do next.
It is the third way; neither science nor art, it is creative rationality and rational creativity. Designing is seeking balance between the forces we cannot control and the needs and desires we are driven to express.
Everyone designs, but professionals benefit from an education and experience that gives them better ways to think and reflect about their work.
There are designerly ways of knowing1 and doing that are universal. Even though one may have particular experience in one or another kind of design, a true designer is unconstrained by the limits of discipline and field.
Some people think that designing is an ineffable, subjective thing
borne of the human spirit, and is therefore not subject to clinical,
scientific analysis. While I can accept the antecedent of this
proposition, the consequent does not necessarily follow.
Design can mean three different things: a thing, a
discipline and it's body of knowledge, and an activity.
My interest is in design as an activity. To distinguish it from
the other senses of the word, I refer to it as designing.
Design is something that happens; it's a
phenomenon, like gravity or evaporation. That means we can observe
it, study it, understand it, and experiment to discover better ways
to do it.
What's new with me
NOTE: I collect interesting news, blog
posts, and web links and update those lists regularly. You can
find the latest stuff I've read at
my Netvibes
page.
What follows are recent posts to
my
Ryerson blog.
The joys of academia
2012-05-09 20:50:31+00:00
Here’s a wonderful peak into the life of academics: http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/mohamed-noor-profiled-in-the-scientist-and-a-note-on-authorship/ It also shows the fine character of Prof. Jerry Coyne.
That’s low!
2012-04-26 16:36:42+00:00
I’m administering my drafting exam. Students must leave their bags and coats at the front of the room to counteract cheating. Well, this year, it seems, some particularly idiotic students are walking out of exams with other people’s bags! On purpose! That’s what us normal people call theft. And it won’t be tolerated. Rest assured [...]
Underemployment is no cause for concern
2012-04-23 12:13:25+00:00
This headline should trouble students…. or should it? Apparently, in the US, half of college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. First of all, it’s not clear to me that the situation is the same in Canada, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was. After all, Canadians, despite all the evidence, continue to act as [...]
Language facepalms
2012-03-31 15:35:14+00:00
In case you’re wondering just how important it is to communicate clearly, here’s a couple of examples. “It’s a life-changing event to be injured and die in a car accident.” Yes, death is life-changing. “Pedestrians: when you’re driving, try to look out for cyclists.” Well, if they’re driving, then they’re not pedestrians – and vice [...]
Look who stopped by our back yard yesterday!
2012-02-27 13:46:08+00:00
The Old Days
2012-02-25 05:27:07+00:00
“In 1998, when the Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page launched Google, the existing search engines were so inadequate that only one was capable of finding itself when queried with its own name.” ~Charles Petersen
14 Rules of Life
2012-02-21 04:44:48+00:00
There are some things you need to know, and that you probably don’t know yet. These are important things. Some of you may have heard these rules attributed to Bill Gates. But that’s not true. They are properly attributed to Charles J. Sykes, and educational researcher. One of our goals in University is to make [...]
The New, New Math
2012-02-06 16:32:33+00:00
I found a funny story about teaching math (it’s a US perspective) that others might enjoy at http://www.topix.com/forum/city/new-lenox-il/TNISVHK37R981F0HG#c1.
My availability
2012-02-04 16:31:03+00:00
I’m not available to help you as often as you might think, and with good reason. Some students don’t understand the responsibilities of a professor, and therefore mistakenly think that we are available virtually all the time to help them. This isn’t the case. Some rather cynically describe the job of the academic as: 50% [...]
Welcome to Winter 2012
2012-01-05 21:46:34+00:00
I have many new students in the winter semester. It is to those students I address this message: Assuming you were “mature” at the age of 16, then I’ve been an adult 17 times longer than you. Appreciate the experience that this entails. I am not your enemy, but I will not tolerate any bullshit [...]
ASME/Ryerson Engineering Competition
2011-11-28 00:57:01+00:00
Hello Everyone, ASME Ryerson Chapter presents the following four competitions: 1. Design Competition 2. Oral Presentation Competition 3. Poster competition 4. Web design competition The winner of these competitions will be sent to United States on ASME Ryerson Chapter’s expense, where they will be further competing with universities from all over the globe. Students will [...]
Off-campus this week
2011-11-14 11:16:18+00:00
I’ll be at the Design Business Conf Nov 16-20 – http://www.designbusinessconference.com/ If you need to get in touch, email should work fine.
Cool folding furniture from Italy
2011-11-02 17:41:48+00:00
This furniture is a mechanical engineer’s dream. It looks great, and it folds up in really cool ways. Resource Furniture shows off fold-away furniture that’s cool. (YouTube)
Teaching Assistants Award
2011-10-31 13:58:24+00:00
If you know a really good teaching assistant, please consider nominating him/her for this award. TA/GA award nominations open: Jan. 27 (deadline) Nominations are open for the 2011-2012 TA/GA Awards. The awards recognize, promote and reward the contributions that teaching and graduate assistants make to enhance the quality of the undergraduate student learning experience at [...]
Steve Jobs dies at 56
2011-10-06 00:04:56+00:00
Steve Jobs, a founder, and the heart, of Apple, has died. It’s a sad day, not because of what he did at Apple, but how he did it – with class, intelligence, and compassion. I would urge everyone to watch the TED talk by Jobs at Stanford in 2005: “How to live before you die.” [...]
Free lunch for a lucky student
2011-09-27 00:02:44+00:00
Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCMmmEEyOO0. Write out a physical explanation, math and all, of why the slinky does as it does, convince me you understand your solution, and I’ll buy you lunch. Open to students in MEC723 and MEC325 only, between now and 2 Dec 2011.
Another must see video
2011-09-25 02:26:59+00:00
Every student should watch this video and think about it when they do the Faculty Course Evaluations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcxW6nrWwtc.
A must-see video
2011-09-16 00:42:08+00:00
Every student MUST watch this video about arithmetic: http://youtu.be/F-QA2rkpBSY.
Student Design Competition
2011-09-13 21:04:07+00:00
I’m just passing this on – please don’t contact me (Salustri) about it. This year, the Association of Canadian Ergonomists (ACE) its first full-day Student Ergo Design Competition on Monday, October 20, 2011 in London Ontario. The purpose of the day is to bring students with an interest in ergonomics and design together for friendly [...]
Good book for students
2011-09-08 00:52:31+00:00
I urge all students to read this book – Campus Confidential: 100 startling things you don’t know about Canadian Universities, by Coates & Morrison. Available at Chapters and Amazon.
Welcome Back!
2011-09-07 15:06:17+00:00
Welcome back everyone to the 2011-2012 academic year. This year, I’m teaching MEC325 with Prof. P. Neumann, and MEC723. My home page is http://deseng.ryerson.ca/~fil; if you want to make an appointment to see me, please follow the make an appointment link on my home page. All students are encouraged to explore the websites given above [...]
Off to ICED
2011-08-05 05:20:22+00:00
I’ll be at the Intl Conf on Engineering Design, for the whole week of August 15th. I’ve never been to Copenhagen. Looking forward to seeing all my European colleagues.
The abomination of endless growth
2011-07-26 11:36:04+00:00
New blog post about how understanding feedback loops means we have to design systems (organizations, institutions, things) that have a natural end. Endless growth is abomination because it occurs nowhere in nature.
Oh, Joy! New Googley Things!
2011-07-02 01:56:23+00:00
Google’s refreshing a bunch of stuff, finally giving Tasks the respect it deserves, and is introducing a (possible) Facebook-killer. Read all about it here.
Humans shouldn’t be the main concern of design
2011-06-27 13:26:29+00:00
Just posted a new blog item about why Don Norman’s take on the inadequacy of human-centred design is right. Read it here.
WP 4 iPhone works great!
2011-06-24 21:49:05+00:00
I’m posting this from my iPhone. If you’re WordPress-inclined, I highly recommend the WordPress app.
Hello world!
2011-06-24 19:41:31+00:00
I have other blogs, but I wanted something un-twitter-y to which I can post news about my research and related stuff. I tried twitter. I found it annoying. This will be much better.
