Last Saturday, I went to the T-Minus 151 event, which is an intense one-week design project held by RIT Industrial Design. It was interesting and a lot of students were really excited about it.
The annual T-minus event was held during the first week of the spring semester. The industrial design students, including Graduates, were assigned to teams of five, including a freshman, a sophomore, a junior, a senior and a grad student. Teams were prompted with three different topics and the winners were selected in each category. The three topics this year were: the celebration of RIT's 50th anniversary of the campus in Henrietta, a bench made from the historic oak tree, and designing a playroom in the new Henrietta library.
Participating in T-Minus is an awesome learning experience because all team members can learn from each other, especially from graduates and upper-class students. Freshmen can learn how a product is produced and gain a deeper understanding of the Industrial Design professional field and major. Meanwhile having the juniors as the group leaders not only helps them enhance their leadership skills but also integrate ideas and gives the team a fun, learning atmosphere.
The one-week design project simulated a real-world design scenario, where designers have to solve the problems of their customers. With limited time, students exploited their skills to produce the product effectively. Finally, on the last day, the teams presented their concepts with renderings, sketches, and, if constructed, scaled models. At last, the judges critiqued and chose the winning teams based on their presentation and ideas.
I was so pleased to have been able to attend this activity. There were plenty of interesting designs. Surprisingly, some of the extraordinary presenters were freshmen. I hope this passage can be helpful to the students who are considering RIT Industrial Design Program, and that you will consider participating in the T-minus event!