Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design students review the dream machine sketches submitted by the elementary students. Photo by Wendi Chitwood, Indiana University
Design students present their designs for the baseball pitcher idea. Photo by Wendi Chitwood, Indiana University
<picture class="lw_image"> <source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13891_designs_and_prototypes_arrive.rev.1719504588.png 1x"/> <source type="image/png" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13891_designs_and_prototypes_arrive.rev.1719504588.png 1x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13891_designs_and_prototypes_arrive.rev.1719504588.png" width="288" height="512" alt="Students at Middleton High School receive the IU design students' prototypes and plans. Photo courtesy of Middleton High School" data-max-w="288" data-max-h="512"/></picture>
Students at Middleton High School receive the IU design students’ prototypes and plans. Photo courtesy of Middleton High School
<picture class="lw_image"> <source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13892_mhs_baseball_pitcher.rev.1719504678.png 1x"/> <source type="image/png" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13892_mhs_baseball_pitcher.rev.1719504678.png 1x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13892_mhs_baseball_pitcher.rev.1719504678.png" width="288" height="512" alt="High school students assigned to construct the baseball pitcher liked the prototype idea of the backboard as a baseball glove; however, t..." data-max-w="288" data-max-h="512"/></picture>
High school students assigned to construct the baseball pitcher liked the prototype idea of the backboard as a baseball glove; however, they felt the net was interfering with successful playability. As a result, they made a curved trough to catch the ball instead. Photo courtesy of Middleton High School
<picture class="lw_image"> <source type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13893_MHS_tank_cardboard.rev.1719504880.png 1x"/> <source type="image/png" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13893_MHS_tank_cardboard.rev.1719504880.png 1x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13893_MHS_tank_cardboard.rev.1719504880.png" width="288" height="512" alt="High school students assigned to the speedy dose medicine dispenser made an initial mockup using cardboard. Photo courtesy of Middleton H..." data-max-w="288" data-max-h="512"/></picture>
High school students assigned to the speedy dose medicine dispenser made an initial mockup using cardboard. Photo courtesy of Middleton High School
Adam Maltese, faculty member at the IU School of Education in Bloomington, prepares to reveal dream machines to Linton Elementary students. Photo courtesy of MyMachine USA
The baseball pitcher was revealed to Linton Elementary students. Photo courtesy of MyMachine USA
<picture class="lw_image"> <source type="image/webp" media="(max-width: 500px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/500/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/500/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/500/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 3x"/> <source type="image/webp" media="(max-width: 800px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/800/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/800/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/800/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 3x"/> <source type="image/webp" media="(min-width: 801px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.webp 3x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(max-width: 500px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/500/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/500/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/500/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 3x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(max-width: 800px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/800/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/800/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/800/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 3x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(min-width: 801px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 3x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg" width="1000" height="750" alt="A dream machine designed to help people take medicine in a memorable and fun way, called the Speedy Dose Medicine Dispenser, was revealed..." srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/1000/13886_Speedy_Dose_Medicine_Helper_2.rev.1719434184.jpg 3x" data-max-w="3200" data-max-h="2400"/></picture>
A dream machine designed to help people take medicine in a memorable and fun way, called the Speedy Dose Medicine Dispenser, was revealed to Linton Elementary students. Photo courtesy of MyMachine USA
Linton Elementary students examine their dream machine, called the Speedy Dose Medicine Dispenser. Photo courtesy of MyMachine USA
<picture class="lw_image"> <source type="image/webp" media="(max-width: 500px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/500/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/500/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/500/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 3x"/> <source type="image/webp" media="(max-width: 800px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/800/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/800/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/800/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 3x"/> <source type="image/webp" media="(min-width: 801px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 3x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(max-width: 500px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/500/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/500/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/500/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 3x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(max-width: 800px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/800/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/800/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/800/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 3x"/> <source type="image/jpeg" media="(min-width: 801px)" srcset="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 1x, /live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 3x"/> <img src="/live/image/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG" width="1000" height="667" alt="Montclair Kimberley Academy students wait eagerly to see how their ideas for dream machines were made a reality. Photo courtesy of Montcl..." srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/2/width/1000/13882_MyMachine_5-21-24_031_2.rev.1719434181.JPG 2x" data-max-w="3000" data-max-h="2000"/></picture>
Montclair Kimberley Academy students wait eagerly to see how their ideas for dream machines were made a reality. Photo courtesy of Montclair Kimberley Academy
Jon Racek, a faculty member in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, shows dream machine creations to elementary students. Photo courtesy of Montclair Kimberley Academy
Montclair Kimberley Academy students examine their Glasserator dream machine, designed to repurpose broken glass. Photo courtesy of Montclair Kimberley Academy
How big would you dream, if you knew you couldn’t fail? This is the question that MyMachine Global — an international network of educators and partners launched in Belgium — asks students of all ages.
The first stateside chapter, MyMachine USA, is in its third year encouraging students across the United States to think creatively and develop solutions to challenges they face in everyday life.
Providing STEM education opportunities is important for future career readiness. In 2023, the Indiana Department of Education announced new academic standards for integrated STEM curriculum, preparing Hoosier students to be tomorrow’s thinkers, creators, advocates and entrepreneurs. IU serves as a partner to P-12 educators by bringing expertise, research and resources to the classroom, including through the Office of School Partnerships.
By bringing MyMachine’s award-winning methodology to the United States, Maltese and Racek are inviting students across grade levels to participate in a co-creation process. Elementary students dream up machines. IU design students formalize the concepts. Then high school students create the finished product, which is presented back to the elementary students.
“The reason I love the MyMachine project is that my design students are working with demanding clients, which very much aligns with real life,” Racek said. “They have to translate the ideas into forms and objects that will work. Then they must prepare these prototypes in a way that high school students can actually fabricate them.”
In the 2023-24 academic year, Maltese and Racek partnered with two elementary schools, Linton Elementary in Indiana and Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey.
“My colleagues and I work toward improving the current educational experiences of youth in order to better prepare them for an unpredictable future” said Maltese, who directs the Make Innovate Learn Lab and the Uplands Maker Mobile on the IU Bloomington campus. Partnering with Jon at the Eskenazi School, renowned for its incredible design program, showed MyMachine Global that Indiana University has the resources to introduce this methodology to classrooms across America.”
During the fall of 2023, they held an ideation day where the elementary students drew, sketched and decided which dream machines to produce. This year’s final selections were:
Baseball Pitcher: For practicing their baseball swing when their parents were not available to pitch to them.
Shape Shifter Cookie Roller: To simplify the combining, rolling, cutting and embossing of dough.
Speedy Dose Medicine Dispenser: To take medicine in a memorable and fun way.
Boost Buddy Stair Helper: For reaching objects in high places.
Glasserator: For fixing or repurposing broken glass
IU students design possibilities
Racek is an award-winning multidisciplinary designer specializing in architectural, landscape and industrial design. Before joining the IU faculty, he ran his own design studio in Los Angeles with his work being featured in publications such as The New York Times and Time magazine. He also enjoys designing for and working with kids. In 2008, he founded the organization Play360, a nonprofit that trains nongovernmental organizations to build low-cost educational resources in developing countries.
“The kids wanted a box they could put broken glass in and it would come out restored,” Smith said.
“We wanted to steer them away from fixing glass to something more like a creative art project. However, their main goal was to save glass, and they said it was OK for the Glasserator to create something new. So, our design team steered the elementary students into a different direction that was more possible to achieve.”
With the final prototype, users can put glass shards in an enclosed box and combine them with resin in a mold, ultimately making a piece of art.
The design students learned a lot through the experience and said they feel more prepared to launch their careers.
“This project allowed me to understand how to work with clients and be more realistic about who I’m designing for,” Nguyen said. “I gained a real-life understanding of what projects may be like in the future.”
“I learned how to better interpret and integrate the varying critiques, which was a little difficult,” Mosley said. “Receiving critiques from so many different perspectives helped me become a better designer. In most of our classwork, I think we emphasize function and focus less on appearance and buildability, whereas this project emphasized all three.”
Students from Quincy Millerjohn’s Design and Fabrication II course at Middleton High School in Wisconsin, fabricated the machines in March and April.
The baseball pitcher crew liked the prototype idea of the backboard as a baseball glove, however, they felt the net was interfering with successful playability. As a result, they made a curved trough to catch the ball instead.
“One of the things we thought was challenging for us, was getting all the angles right on it to make sure the ball bounces in, but it ended up doing pretty well and it was a fun project,” said Zach G., who worked on the pitcher.
The big reveals
When the machines were ready, Maltese and Racek organized a big reveal at the respective elementary schools in May.
At Linton Elementary, students eagerly waited to see what became of the Baseball Pitcher, Speedy Dose Medicine Dispenser and Boost Buddy Stair Helper. In New Jersey, the students got to see how their sketches for a Glasserator and Shape Shifter Cookie Roller were actualized.
Now, heading into its fourth year of operation in the 2024-25 academic year, Maltese and Racek said they are excited about the program’s future and hope to expand.
“This year MyMachine USA’s footprint was in three states, and we hope to find support so we can broaden its reach in the Hoosier state and the country,” Racek said.
“We made changes over the years and have learned to hang back as much as possible and let the experience be driven by the students,” Maltese said. “It’s been interesting to see how the ideas and interpretations merge with skillset and creativity. The students take ownership of the process, and I’m excited to see how this opportunity inspires them to shape the future.”
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.