Design Opportunities Digest: July 20th, 2023
Jacobs Announcements Listserv
Hello Jacobs community,
This week's DOD newsletter features the ExoBreast survey, the Designated Emphasis and Graduate Certificate in New Media, a research study to help evaluate AI-generated suggestions for UI design improvements, and an open position for web dev.
Go Bears!
Janrey
General Opportunities
ExoBreast Survey
Hi, Jacobs Community!
I'm Rosalie Lin from the Future Technologies group at Accenture Labs based in San Francisco. We are currently working on a research project called ExoBreast, a novel bra and breast prosthesis made to be a re-moldable, lightweight, and one-piece wearable. Exobreast is:
Re-moldable: It allows you to reshape the prosthesis/bra as many times as needed.
Conformable: It allows you to fine tune the prosthesis/bra to your body and desired fit and can help you augment or reduce the appearance of breasts.
Fiber-based: Unlike traditional silicone prostheses, it offers fabric-like softness that enhances comfort and wearability.
We’re seeking inputs from diverse user groups, such as gender non-conforming individuals, transgender individuals, and people who are interested in breast appearance modification, to inform the design for next-gen breast wearables. Your responses will be tremendously valuable in shaping the future of this research project.
We would appreciate it if you could spare 10-15 minutes to take this survey, and also share it with your community that might be interested in this project. The survey is voluntary and anonymous, and we will not collect any personally identifiable information.
Thank you so much for your time!
Startup Law Initiative (SLI)
Calling all startup founders! The Startup Law Initiative (SLI) at Berkeley Law pairs first-year law students working under the supervision of licensed attorneys with startup founders to help them incorporate their businesses and draft key documents important to startups, including equity incentive plans, nondisclosure agreements, and employment contracts. They're looking for 5-6 clients/startups to work with for the upcoming year. Applications are due by July 25th but will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so get yours in soon if you're interested. If you're a founder in need of legal support, this would be super valuable for your ventures.
Students in the Fung Fellowship develop as leaders and innovators as they design breakthrough technology solutions to society’s most pressing challenges. The fellows’ strength resides in their diversity, creativity, value of inclusion, and ability to work collaboratively. Learn more about us at fungfellows.berkeley.edu. The Fung Fellowship has two tracks for the 2023-24 academic year: Health + Innovation and Conservation + Innovation. This application is for BOTH tracks and allows applicants to apply to one or both programs. This application cycle is open to rising Juniors (Class of 2025) and rising Seniors (Class of 2024) from ANY major.
Apply by Friday, July 21, 2023 at 11:59pm PDT.
Certificate in Entrepreneurship & Technology
Our experiential, hands-on courses simulate professional and startup environments, using the award-winning Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship, giving students the chance to practice making their ideas real working in interdisciplinary teams of undergraduates and graduate students from all majors. Our courses provide a unique opportunity to learn about tech innovation and entrepreneurship through direct contact with experts in the field and hands-on startup projects. The SCET Certificate offers students the opportunity to build networks, start and grow their own startups, and strengthen leadership, collaboration, and communication skills.
Register for EDUC 222C: Design-Based Research Forum this fall!
Fall 2023, Mondays 2–5pm
Instructor: Dor Abrahamson
DBR is a practicum course. It is forum for people interested in design to build something, try it out, and, along the way, learn a thing or two about learning. It begins with your own hunch about how to improve the teaching and learning of some concept or skill – you can choose any content, context, age group, and media. You will immediately begin acting on the hunch by building something, even a mock-up. This will help you think about the hunch, but it will also help you explain the hunch to your cohort and instructor. While you build and operate the thing, you’ll probably notice stuff you hadn’t thought about before. To help you think about these new features, we’ll draw in some selected perspectives from the Learning Sciences that will be customized to your own project (so there’s no official course reader, but rather a couple of basic papers followed by “your” papers). So this is a different approach to learning about theory: theory in this course is not stuff you need to know as much as stuff you want to use. Theory is “on tap” rather than “on top” (I stole that from Papert) — theory is a tool for improving the design and making sense of how people use it.
Applications Open for the Designated Emphasis and Graduate Certificate in New Media
Applications due: November 1, 2023
The Berkeley Center for New Media is an interdisciplinary research center that studies and shapes media transition and emergence from diverse perspectives. Through critical thinking and making, we cultivate technological equity and fairness in our classrooms, in our communities, and on the internet. A new media certification provides enhanced skills in analyzing and/or designing future media with an awareness of historical, social, and cultural perspectives that might not be visible from a single discipline. Emphasizing a critical understanding of the nature and implications of new media, our students draw on theories and methodologies from the arts, the humanities and social sciences, and science and engineering, to innovate while questioning the impact of new media on the human experience. Our students are eligible for a host of opportunities through the Center, including conference and summer research grants, our prestigious Lyman fellowship, research support, teaching positions, and unique experiences with the world-class speakers we bring to campus. We are accepting applications for admission to the Designated Emphasis (DE) in New Media Ph.D. program, the Graduate Certificate in New Media program, and the Undergraduate Certificate in New Media program. All applications for Fall 2023 admittance are due November 1.
Find out more here!
Research study at UC Berkeley to help evaluate AI-generated suggestions for UI design improvements
Hi all, We are recruiting mobile user interface design experts for a research study at UC Berkeley to help evaluate AI-generated suggestions for UI design improvements. Your participation will help shape how AI can better fit into existing design processes. The study will be conducted in-person (strongly preferred) in the Berkeley/SF area or remotely via Zoom. During the study, you will use a novel AI-based tool to generate suggestions of design improvements for Figma mockups, provide quantitative and qualitative feedback on these suggestions, and update the Figma mockups based on valid suggestions. There will also be a brief interview at the end of the study regarding your experiences using the tool. The entire study will take approximately 90 minutes.
If you participate, we will thank you for your time with a $30 gift card from Amazon. We are running these studies over the next few weeks and will schedule a 90-minute slot at your convenience.
To participate in this study, you must be:
At least 18 years of age
Have at least 3 years of mobile UI design experience
Experience with Figma
The contacts for the study are PhD student Peitong Duan (website), PhD student Jeremy Warner (website), and Professor Bjoern Hartmann (website). If you have any further questions, please contact (peit...@berkeley.edu or jeremy...@berkeley.edu). If interested, please submit this form: https://forms.gle/Ve1wn4gv4vZyBdqe7 We will then reach out to you with more details and to coordinate scheduling! Thanks, Peitong
Career
Graduate Student Instructor: Info C262 Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces
Professor Kimiko Ryokai is teaching a course called, "Theory and Practice of Tangible User Interfaces" this fall at School of Information. They are looking for a passionate GSI with physical computing skills (programming and electrical engineering, mechanical skill is a plus) as well as interaction design sensibilities. The course info is here: https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/courses/info/262.
If you are interested, please contact Kimiko [kim...@berkeley.edu] asap.
Berkeley Accessibility Researcher Part-Time Assistant and Project Manager
This 10-hour/week general assistant/project management position supports a blind designer in execution of a variety of accessibility- and disability-related projects. Job duties include general project management, calendar and event coordination, manuscript editing, procurement and subcontracting, etc. The qualified candidate will be at home in iOS, Windows, MS Office, and will have top-notch verbal and written communication skills. The preferred candidate will be local to the East Bay.
Cass Labs Web Dev Position Open
The company: Cass Labs is a research and development firm in the cycling industry that helps bike companies make better products with data acquisition and quantitative analysis.
The project: We are launching a web app. It is a data management software product for cycling companies to manage R&D data flows.
What we need: We are looking for student/recent grad skilled in web dev (javascript/React/css) and UI/UX to work on front end/design. Proficiency in Python/Flask is a must. The backend is all built out, and we have a simple Flask app working, but are looking for your help to get us from here to MVP.
Timeline: We are looking to finish an MVP in the next 1.5 months. Potential to continue collaboration after that.
Contact: Reach out to ma...@casslabs.xyz with a bit about you, your experience, and why you are interested in the project.
Events
Centering Youth in ECCD™ - Free Youth Webinar
August 23, 2023 at 1:00PM - 2:30PM (CST)
Join Creative Reaction Lab for this exclusive youth webinar about Centering Youth in Equity-Centered Community Design. If you are a young leader up to age 26 this webinar is specifically designed for you. This is a free webinar for youth up to age 26. This lecture will be co-led by Seeds of Power Fellow Alumni, Cat Smith, Dhara Shah, Learning & Education Director & Robert Beckles, Programs & Education Coordinator.
Adobe MAX is an annual creativity conference held by Adobe Inc. The event helps Adobe to present the new developments of its suite of applications and to build a community of creative professionals. Ignite your creativity and learn the latest tools and trends in design, video, photography, 3D, generative AI, and more. Connect with the world’s most inspiring creative community.
For inquiries regarding weekly newsletters, please contact Janrey Javier at janrey...@berkeley.edu