Interdisciplinary Design in Practice

Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman’s lecture about her work and experience in the lab and classroom at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute focused on the BioWear project, a kinetic accessory that works with the body to sense and display emotions. The project brings together multiple fields of study, including fashion and industrial design, mechanical, electrical and computer engineering, and print, film and video media.

In addition, she discussed the design and development of multiple wearable technology research projects conducted with her students in collaboration with NASA and partner engineering schools. She addressed the challenges of working across disciplines and between institutions, and the rewards of creating multidisciplinary teams that learn to achieve more together than in silos.