Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PORTFOLIO
Kaustav Das
Contents
Olympics Ping-Pong Table (Fall 2016) . 3
Interlocking Table (Summer 2015) ... 8
Bakery Ethnographic Study (Spring 2016) .. 11
The Arts for Change Project (Spring 2016) 13
SECure Bandage (Spring 2017) ... 16
Stratoliner (Spring 2015) 21
Classroom Chair (Summer 2016) .. 25
Micro-Car Interior (Fall 2016) ... 26
Free-Form Modeling (Spring 2017) . 29
PIU Transportation System (Spring 2017) . 31
GTMS Racecar Intake Restrictor (Fall 2015) . 32
TATA Communications F1 Connectivity Challenge 1 (Summer 2017) .... 34
Race Circuit Map Design (Spring 2016) . 36
The Drive-Thru Contest (Spring 2016) . 37
Star Wars Machine Contest (Fall 2015) 39
Design Fixation (Spring 2017) . 43
Ideal Football Helmet (Fall 2015) ... 45
Rock-Climbing Yoyo (Spring 2015) 46
Stapler Operation (Summer 2016) . 48
Camera Design Critique (Fall 2016) .. 49
Relationship with Technology (Fall 2014) .. 50
Counter-Top Population Stereotypes (Fall 2016) . 51
Basic Shape Constructions (Spring 2015) ... 53
The Revenge Cube (Fall 2014) ... 59
OLYMPICS PING-PONG TABLE
Locker Room Bench Travel Hammock Japanese Joinery BBQ Pit Seating Ice Sculpting
IDEATING
3
SKETCHING
4
The sketching also included
deliberating myriad
engineering designs for the
base of the table, fitting
Japanese joinery to the top
and mid-level support
areas. I drew inspiration
from roofing assemblies of
Japanese torii (gates found
in several shrines) to arrive
at my final design after 4
weeks.
5
The side of the
table resembles
the Japanese
character for
sun, which is
used to light the
Olympic torch.
The sun is also Sun
a symbol of the
Japanese torii Japanese flag.
6
Once the final design was
deciphered, the biggest
challenge in prototyping was
selecting the correct type of
wood. Since resin-treated
wood would not yield good
finishing from a saw, I used
poplar solid wood to
construct the base, chiseling
out most of the joints. I used
medium density fiberboard for
PROTOTYPING the top and spray-painted it.
7
INTERLOCKING TABLE
MODELING
Curved joints were tested on curved parts to observe the motion of interlocking, and then tried out
on linear parts to make a comparison with stress-strain results of linear parts with straight joints
8
9
The future goals of the
parametric study of joints:
o Optimizing stiffness of
interlocking joints
o Expand on geometric
designs of joints
10
BAKERY ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
11
In order to convey our findings about what
makes the French bakery successful, my team
and I had to prioritize which insights to focus
on. We highlighted these main points through
a cohesive 8-minute video of interviews with
the bakerys employees and snippets of the
bakery. In order to complement the
multimedia, we created a moodboard of
pictures that portrays the sense of family and
belonging in Douceur de France.
12
THE ARTS FOR CHANGE PROJECT
FILMING
13
Insights:
o Importance of compactness of crowd
Is the glass
half-full or and unity with theater stage
half-empty? o Dearth of young audience, but lower in
What hurdles do need hierarchy than having own space
you face in reaching
out to non-buyers? Imperatives:
What range of non-buyers
do you want to attract to o Flexibility-usability tradeoff: old vs
increase profits? young, subscriptions vs single tickets
How much do the peroformers o Performance load: a bigger theater
have a say in what kind of show is
performed?
means full house is harder to achieve
When was the theatre founded? How long have you worked
here? What have been the major milestones and obstacles
during your time here?
14
In addition to presenting insights like for the
bakery study, my team and I used our
frameworks to derive potential solutions to
mitigate problems like audience viewership
and feedback retrieval. To uncover our
solutions creatively, I drew from a term
magic pill used by the director in the video
to mock up a physical large-scale pill that
revealed the solutions when opened.
Solutions: SOLVING
o Conservatory in
schools to encourage
youth to participate in
theater
o Monthly or weekly
discounts for frequent
customers
o Shuttle service from
schools to theater
o Theater correspondent
on TV and other media
platforms
15
SECURE BANDAGE
Problem statement: Develop a smart bandage that makes use of flexible printed circuits to electrically
stimulate blood flow to chronic wounds for diabetes patients who is experiencing difficulties in healing
Function tree
Finding a solution to healing for diabetes patients proved a lot more challenging than for GET,
with more ideating and testing. To start prototyping the bandage, my team first conducted market
and patent research to develop the criterion for material and equipment selection. Based on
preliminary specifications and cost analysis, we reviewed several vendors before ordering our
Kapton material and silver ink for printing the flexible circuits on the Kapton bandage. Using the
material properties of Kapton and silver ink, I performed finite element analyses on CAD models
of bandage prototypes of different sizes to test compatibility on various parts on the human body.
Key specifications
16
17
MARKETING
The mid-term poster I made represented preliminary ideas along with the market research and circuit
framework. After ideating design concepts with my teammates, my primary role was to make drawings
and renderings of our design implementation to communicate how the user would use and interact
with the smart bandage. This also required me to articulate the cover design of the box of bandages
that would potentially be sold in the market, for example in CVS. We then evaluated our design
concepts using data from printed circuit board testing and biocompatibility of silver ink from bacterial
inhibition zones on a petri dish to meet OSHA and FDA standards.
18
REASONING
My team and I initially focused on making a customizable bandage for users to cut out a size
that fits the size of a given wound. But we later concluded the functioning of the bandage
circuit constituted greater importance, so altered the design to a simpler version consisting of
the electrical components and stimulating nodes in one wholesome design. I then designed
our final poster of our process and prototype, shown below.
19
STRATOLINER
The world is striving to implement solutions to bigger problems namely pollution and global warming;
Lockheed Martins concept of a hydrogen-based airplane, Stratoliner, is potentially a major
breakthrough. When my team decided to produce a concept CAD version of the plane, we first had to
delegate parts of the plane to each person. I first made sketches to obtain a satisfactory design, and then
proceeded to develop CAD models of my parts, which were windows, doors, exhaust, and a mini-bar.
21
22
CAD work-arounds:
o Doors and
windows were
surfaced since the
planes body is
curved
o The exhaust was
lined up with the
rear tip of the
plane
o 2 mini-bars were
installed at the
middle of the
plane
23
ASSEMBLING
To make sure the individual parts all fitted together into a seamless whole body, all members
of the team needed to communicate dimensions with each other so that everything was in
the same scale. Once we modeled the fuselage, the seat size and space were determined
with a suitable capacity in mind, and the rest of the parts like mini-bar, restrooms, cockpit,
and landing gear were mated and saved into one assembly file. The floor and mid-plane were
the main reference planes used in placing the parts inside the plane.
CLASSROOM CHAIR
ITERATING
25
MICRO-CAR INTERIOR
26
DIMENSIONING
27
MOCK-UP
28
FREE-FORM MODELING
29
Bike
frame
detail
SCULPTING
Snowboard goggles
30
PIU TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
31
GTMS RACECAR INTAKE RESTRICTOR
32
Compared to road-cars, racecars
have an altogether dissimilar
design process. This applies to
both interior and exterior parts.
As part of the powertrain team
of Georgia Tech Motorsports
Club, my job was to design the
intake restrictor for the car that
would drive in the FSAE
competition in Michigan in May
2016. To achieve the shape with
the best compromise between
pressure recovery and air-flow
distribution at the outlet, I had to
design a plethora of shapes with
altering lengths and alignments to
find the optimum design.
OPTIMIZING
33
TATA COMMUNICATIONS F1 CONNECTIVITY
CHALLENGE 1
34
35
RACE CIRCUIT MAP DESIGN
DRAWING
36
THE DRIVE-THRU CONTEST
37
38
STAR WARS MACHINE CONTEST
Function tree
PLANNING
Prioritization matrix
40
BRAINSTORMING
41
We adorned our machine in yellow
and black (Georgia Tech colors), and
used the same theme on our poster
when presenting to judges. It was
important to plan what each member
conveyed to judges and during the
wrap-up video. Moreover, we had to
decide and practice our individual
tasks when setting up the machine on
the arena. Through the experience, I
learnt that the design process is far
from linear; despite our scheduling,
we had to keep coming back and start
designing concepts from scratch.
During this, it is essential not just to
learn from our mistakes, but also
notice and build on the successes and
failures of other teams.
PRESENTING
42
DESIGN FIXATION
43
IDEAL FOOTBALL HELMET
Brains are very susceptible to concussive injuries in football; football helmets are a big domain
where technology can be used to reduce the risk of injury during tackles. As part of an injury
prevention team, my primary research area materials used in the design process of a helmet.
Focusing on different regions of the top of the body, I designed a concept alternative helmet design.
These concepts would have to be tested using sensors before they could be implemented.
TESTING
45
ROCK-CLIMBING YOYO
46
3D-PRINTING
47
STAPLER OPERATION
STORYBOARDING
48
CAMERA DESIGN CRITIQUE
INNOVATING
Alternate flash
position
Alternate grip
49
RELATIONSHIP WITH TECHNOLOGY
50
COUNTER-TOP POPULATION STEREOTYPES
Gender:
Age:
< 10 10 18 19 29 30 45 46 60 61 75 > 75
Never Once a week 3 times a week Once a day More than once a day
51
1 2 3
4
5
52
BASIC SHAPE CONSTRUCTIONS
I was able to able to improve my skills in making sketches and renderings of real-life objects
like a counters cylindrical knob or circular top after learning perspective drawing using the
horizon line and end points. Only after extensively practicing constructions of basic shapes
like cubes, circles, cylinders, cones, and spheres, did I achieve drawings that are more realistic.
To perfect a skill, it is important to start from the basics and build on that, brick by brick.
53
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58
THE REVENGE CUBE
59
o The fact that a die is used
for games delineates how
revenge itself is like a
mind game
o The unpleasant yellow
signage on the outside of
the die, which is used on
caution signs, hints at
the dangerous
consequences of taking
revenge, trying to evoke a
sense of danger
o The double meaning of
the word die reiterates
the most fatal
consequences of revenge
REFLECTING
60
Everything should be made
as simple as possible, but not
simpler.
- Albert Einstein