Design is pervasive in our lives. And it’s more than just planning—it’s the thoughtful and careful execution of those plans. As we all know, good design isn’t just about how aesthetically pleasing something is. I know this first hand. I built a deck on my house years ago and I was so enamored with how the framework of the deck looked, I was reluctant to install the deck boards. Of course, without the deck boards, the framework had no utility. That’s not good design.
(But perhaps it was art!)
In this issue, we’ll take a look at design in a wide variety of manifestations at Georgia Tech—from architecture to automobiles, from toys to medical devices—as developed by our alumni, faculty, researchers and students. As you’ll read, solving problems is at the heart of design, and it’s also at the heart of a Tech education, making the Institute a really good place to become a designer.
A simple word search on “design” on www.gatech.edu yielded 4,470 results in a tenth of one second. Georgia Tech has 10 Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs) composed of almost 400 centers and laboratories focused on problem-solving and design. According to the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, “these IRI’s exist to create transformative opportunities, strengthen collaborative partnerships, and maximize the societal impact of the exciting research being done at Georgia Tech.”
Harnessing the intellectual horsepower of some of the world’s smartest faculty, researchers and students will provide new discoveries and advancement to the world for decades to come. Out in the world, our alumni are leading the charge in design in almost every field you can imagine. They’re designing buildings, interactive websites, energy infrastructure, smart clothing, Ferraris, biomedical tools and processes, video games, humanitarian aids, new food sources from scratch and so much more. And, often, their work begins by trying to solve the world’s problems from a scientific or engineering point of view—truly a Tech thing.
By the time you receive this issue, the 2015 school year will be underway and a new batch of freshmen will be starting to, yes, design their futures. They’ll be learning the Georgia Tech way and trudging up Freshman Hill to the Clough Undergraduate Commons to study calculus, chemistry and the other core classes that will serve as the building blocks of their careers as problem solvers and designers.
As Cicero once said, if I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter. Now that would have been good design.
JOE IRWIN, IM 80
PRESIDENT & CEO
GEORGIA TECH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
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