Design for Inclusion - A Roundtable DIscussion

We propose a roundtable discussion on “Design for Inclusion” and how to integrate this concept into the undergraduate engineering curriculum. Designing devices and technology that benefit and are useful to all members of society and take into account diverse users' needs does not seem to be a common practice in industry nor in the classroom. We all know examples of devices that seem to have “missed the point” for large segments of their user base. We believe diverse teams are needed to brainstorm ideas from the start and to bring such products to market. The revolution in thinking needs to start at the source, where students are being educated. How can “design for inclusion” become integrated into our design education? The panelists who will discuss this theme will be: • Beth Kolko, Associate Professor in the Dept of Human Centered Design & Engineering, University of Washington, USA (confirmed) • Benoit Gervais, Design engineer, Principal, Futurescape, Ottawa (confirmed) • Elizabeth Croft, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia (confirmed) • Li Shu, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto (confirmed) • Sarah Shortreed, Vice-President, Enterprise Portfolio Management, BlackBerry, Research in Motion (confirmed) • Antony Hodgson, NSERC Chair in Design Engineering, University of British Columbia (confirmed) The panel will be moderated by Catherine Mavriplis, University of Ottawa. We invite the community to join in the discussion with the panelists. These could include representatives of Engineers Canada, the licensing bodies, other NSERC Design Chairs, Deans and Curriculum Chairs, professors and students, industry and government.