Recently, ardent teachers and talented students from the VNU-HCM High School for the Gifted explored the Fulbright University Vietnam campus under the university campus tour. Many were excited about the product development class—the tour highlight, with leading instructions from the Human-Centered Engineering major and the PTNK Initiative in Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering (PIISE).
Guided by Dr. Quan Le, Dr. Duong Phung, and Dr. Kien Truong, the course welcomed 12 curious students at Makerspace, where even the “craziest” ideas can find their way into practice at Fulbright. The foundational product development class in Human-Centered Engineering aims to offer students creative and interdisciplinary thinking, enabling young talents to develop product ideas and find solutions to problems.
Students were attentively listening about Design Thinking
After understanding the product development stages, Makerspace’s new members were encouraged to apply their recent learning to hands-on activities. Students formed four groups to dig deeper into maintaining hygiene and sanitation in their study and living environments through key steps of a problem-solving process: Definition, Analysis, Creation, Implementation, and Evaluation.
Dr. Le Quan introduced the high school students to the problem-definition process
Lively discussions among students and lecturers filled Makerspace with vibrance. After an electrifying hour, four groups finished their proposals and presented them to the instructors. The event was a blast, featuring three product ideas:
- A trash bin robot
- A dust-sucking robot
- A community awareness education process from the students
At the end of the class, the curious students learned more about product design processes, a troubleshooting mindset, and many exciting experiences in human-centered engineering.
Dr. Phung Manh Duong discussed hygiene and sanitation maintenance in living and study environments with young minds
Building innovative ideas to serve better lives for the community encompasses all majors in Fulbright University Vietnam. With Human-Centered Engineering, students can apply product development thinking to design solutions for everyday aspects of life. #Didyouknow Heinz ketchup bottle is a human-centered design product for easy handling with one hand?
Thuy Van & Cam Anh – Class of 2023-2026