Faculty research

Inclusive Children Indoor Play
Headed by Abir Mullick

Faculty assistants
Wayne Chung
Sarah Endicott
Dr. Claudia Winegarden

Student assistants
Robert Smith
Wooyoung Sung
Marisa Topping

Play in outdoor settings has been studied, but little is known about how children play indoors and how they use playthings in indoor play. Because more play occurs indoors, research studies are needed to better design indoor play environments and playthings for all children regardless of their functional abilities. When children with disabilities are excluded from indoor play, their psychosocial, motor, sensory and cognitive/language development suffers. The purpose of this research study is to understand children indoor play, the inclusiveness and performance of indoor playthings.

Design Digital Studios
Headed by Dr. Claudia Winegarden

Distance education programs are being adopted increasingly in all academic fields and practice in the past years. With the increasing enrollment number in colleges and the students’ need to receive education remotely, online education is becoming a demand rather than an optional offering. While many disciplines have successfully implemented distance learning technologies, the design disciplines have had marginal success in this matter and it has not benefited from the application of distance education experience. The current decentralized nature of design practice - designers and manufacturers working in many global regions simultaneously - this is pushing design practice to develop distance working methodologies based on distance learning technologies so people can effectively work with each other while being physically separated. Known as the “Digital Studio”, the purpose of the research is to understand how designers communicate through the use of hardware and software technologies and develop empirical accounts to envision the transition of design education to be performed online.