Harvard vs. MIT

I walk through Harvard Yard almost everyday on my way to the T station and I can't help but notice the difference between Harvard and MIT campuses. Harvard has a quaint, old-fashioned campus that exudes a scholarly feeling.

In contrast, MIT's campus has an industrial, harsh look to it. Furnaces billowing smoke, turbines running, the noise of tomorrow's technology as it takes shape in its underbelly.

As Harvard sits and ponders the past, MIT busily churns out the future. It's no wonder that Harvard and MIT have such a storied rivarly.
I don't know if I prefer one over the other. I like them both. Someday I hope to take some classes at Harvard as well (cross-registration policy between the two schools allows us to take electives at Harvard). Maybe I'll extend my stay here in Boston for another 6 months to get a chance to take some additional electives. What can I say? I really like the school environment, but check back with me in 6 months. We'll see how I feel about it...

PDD Advice

I'll follow Ilana's lead and add another advice.

The product innovation process must start with a need. A product that doesn't address a pressing need (whether obvious or hidden) is doomed to fail. Engineers like us love to solve problems and oftentimes we jump to solutions (innovations) without really understaning the problem (the need). We get excited about possible solutions and then try to fit the needs to them. That's completely backwards!

This is one the reasons we're having such a hard time quantifying the needs for our PDD project. We have to force ourselves to stay in the problem space, analyze the needs and then, only then, come up with a solution.

Settling In

It's taken me a few weeks to settle in the new apartment, but considering what it looked like when I first moved in ...
and what it looks like now...

it's come a long way. On cold winter days like today it feels cozy and warm, on warm sunny days it feels open and bright. I've never liked to study at home (I prefer a coffee shop, bookstore or library), but this apartment feels different and I find myself being more productive when I'm home even though there are plenty of distractions (walking up to and opening the fridge every 15 minutes, taking naps, playing guitar, etc.). At least I don't have a TV yet...

Up a Mountain and Down a Hill

Despite the fact that there's no trace left of last week's winter snowstorm, a few of us decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head for the mountains to ski/snowboard for a day. We decided to go somewhere near Boston because we were too lazy (or too busy) to make any plans in advance. We ended up going to Nashoba Valley Ski Area. Notice that it's called a "valley", not a mountain; and for a good reason. Nashoba ski area is basically a hill with a few trails, none longer than half a mile. Despite the fact that the snowboarding experience was a bit underwhelming for me (I've been spoiled with Lake Tahoe), we had a lot fun hanging out in the outdoors and going out for well-deserved lunch afterwards.

The most exciting events of the day were Ziv's dare-devil acrobatic jump (that ended up with a nice spill at the bottom of the ramp), Serge's first turns on a snowboard (and complete run without a fall) and Nick's introduction to the snowboard park (ouch!).

Product Design and Development

I love all my classes, but the coolest class this semester has got to be Product Design and Development. Get this, we are asked to come up with a product idea, develop a design and build a prototype. We get a $1000 budget to do all this. Doesn't that sound like fun? I love academia! Where else can you get to dream up your games and play them, too?

In the past, teams have developed some pretty interesting products a few of which have been patented and even commercialized (like the paint jug with the anti-drip pour spout). Our team has settled on a plastic bag dispenser for produce bags used in grocery stores.

"What bugs me though are the plastic bags on a roll, that are available to get bulk items, fruit...etc. Are those what you meant? That would be cool!!", said an enthusiastic user (Hi, sis!) when I explained her what we're trying to do.

Sounds like there's a need in the marketplace! Of course, we've done more research than this. We actually went to the grocery store and watched how people used the plastic bags. It's amazing how many people still try to open the wrong end first. And once they figure out the right end, it still takes them a few seconds to open the bag. Here's one unhappy shopper who always forgets which end is up (this is Ziv, our teammate who came up with the idea for this product).


Well, our goal is to make everyone's shopping experience more enjoyable by designing a dispenser that will allow you to pull and open the bag with one hand. How about that!? Watch for a DispensEase at a grocery store near you.

Winter Wonderland

It snowed for the first time since I got here. I missed the snow! It reminded me of my childhood: big fluffy snowflakes, quiet streets covered with snow, the feeling of burrowing in for the winter...
But the feeling didn't last long. As soon as the storm was over, the snow removal crews came out in force. Forget the shovels! They use buldozers these days; much more efficient at destroying our dreams and bringing us to reality. So much for a winter wonderland...

Shopping Around

I'm not about to burn a hole in my credit card (although I do need a few things for the new apartment). This "shopping around" has to do with what classes I should take this spring. Due to MIT's liberal add/drop policy, the first week of classes is a constant running around trying to figure out what classes fit best. Fortunately, I only have room for a few electives and I quickly settled on the following classes:
- Designing and Leading the Entrepreneurial Organization (taught by Diane Burton), a soft-skills kinda' of class that uses real-life case studies to analyze organizational behavior and structure in the context of a new, small firm.
- Organizing for Innovative New Product Development, taught by Tom Allen, an experienced professor of management (in fact, a legend in the SDM department as he is the co-founder of the department).
- Corporations at Crossroads - the CEO Perspectives - this is an easy class often called "applauses for credit". I'm only taking it as a listener (meaning no credit), but it should be interesting. Every week there's a new CEO that will come and speak to the class and a few people (of those who are registered for full credit) will get a chance to go out to dinner with the CEO.

The electives and the required courses add up to 51 credits which is a decent load, with plenty of room to pursue other activities like the $50K entrepreneurship competition, the toasmasters club or other networking events.

Spring Semester

A short vacation and then the spring semester will start. As students are arriving (or just getting out of hibernation), the campus is starting to come to life. January is known as the the Independent Activities Period (IAP) here at MIT, meaning you can do whatever pleases you. But since this is MIT, most students will attend some sort of class, workshop, training seminar or other academic-related, but fun activity. One of these activities is the Charm School, a series of tutorials that take these bright, but sometimes awkward students away from high-minded academic pursuits and teaches them how to... (gasp)... socialize. Sessions such as bathroom etiquette, how to ask someone for a date, or how to handle roommate conflicts, have been very popular in the past.

So when my landlady asked me volunteer for a Charm School session, I jumped at this opportunity to get to know some of these mythical MIT students. The session that I volunteered for was called "how to tell someone something they'd rather not hear". Like anything in life, even this "soft skill", can be condensed into a simple formula (I know miss A will disagree, but since this is MIT, we must put everything into a context that everyone will undestand). The formula is: I feel.... about... because...

The idea is to express the feelings first, then the subject and then the reason behind the feelings. Most left-brained people like me will focus on the subject and the reasons, leaving the feelings behind. But the whole point about this is the feelings. Expressing feelings is what makes people open up to accept the negative news. Hmmm, what a concept!

And thus an intresting thing happened. While I was supposed to teach others how to behave in life, I was learning a little lesson myself. A lesson which I put to use shortly thereafter when I called my new landlord to express to him my feelings of frustrations about the uncleanliness state of the new apartment and the fact that I would have to spend $100 of his own money to clean it. It must've worked because he agreed to pay whatever it would take to make the apartment livable. It just takes a little charm...

January Session is Over!

We survived the January "boot camp" and, to celebrate, a few of us went out to Warren Tavern in Charlestown. We're such a diverse group, but apparently we all have in common one thing: we like to have fun.
The January session wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be. Sure, we had many 12-hour days of lectures, homeworks and other assignments, but overall it was manageable. And, besides, we had many opportunities to go out and have fun. Perhaps it was the unseasonably warm weather that made it easier to go out and socialize, or maybe we're just a fun group of people that will go out no matter what. Who knows?

Design Challenge 2

The second design challenge of the January session was more challenge than design. Our task was to create a disaster recovery plan in case of a terrorist attack on Boston. It is a purposefully ambiguous topic meant to stimulate creativity and teamwork in a setting that is outside our expertise and comfort zone. To mix it up even more, we were assigned to different groups. Perhaps it was the difficult task at hand or the different personalities involved, but our team didn't gel as quickly as the team in design challenge 1. Still, by the end of the assignment we were able to form a choesive team. Neither of us had strong opinions about things, we reached consensus quickly and made major decisions easily. We were ruthlessly efficient.

For our assigned topic we chose the scenario of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker explosion in Boston Harbor. Imagine what would happen if a tanker (like the one below) is attacked en route through Boston Harbor where it passes within 1/4 to 1/2 mile of residential areas. It could be worse than 9/11.

An LNG tanker passed by condominiums in Charlestown on its way out of Boston Harbor. (Globe Staff Photo / David L. Ryan)

Of course, we're not the only ones thinking about this possible scenario and there are plenty of safety measures to make sure this doesn't happen. Our task was to come up with our own disaster recovery plan, study the existing plans and then make a gap analysis followed by recommendations for improvements.

I learned quite a few things during this exercise, most of them having to do with teamwork. Whereas in DC1 I was the project manager setting the schedule, priorities etc., this time I decided to take a step back and let others take charge. The funny thing is that everyone must've thought the same thing: let someone else take charge. So we ended up with a team that had no one-upmanship, ran well on consensus, and was very efficient at getting the assignments done. Something to keep in mind for someone like me who likes to be in charge all the time...