Naya Studio, a startup created by Saad Rajan (MDE '19) and Vivek Hv (MDE '19), uses artificial intelligence to turn client ideas into real products. The startup grew out of the duo's Independent Design Engineering Project in the MDE program.
Read more in Fast Company's December article: https://www.fastcompany.com/90584520/these-harvard-grads-want-to-turn-your-doodles-into-gorgeous-custom-furniture
Hyka Therapeutics, a startup created by Jeronimo Beccar (MDE '19), uses technology to enhance treatments for depression. The startup grew out of Jeronimo's Independent Design Engineering Project in the MDE program.
Read more in the Harvard SEAS article: https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2020/08/finding-patterns-behavior-personalize-care
The student team of Ed Bayes (MDE '21), Nick Collins (MDE '22), Anirban Ghosh (MDE '21), and Milan Wilborn (Ph.D. SEAS) won the Harvard Innovation Lab Ingenuity Award Grand Prize for a GSD student project called Foresight, a soft robotic wearable navigation device that helps people with visual impairment feel the environment around them.
Read more in the SEAS article: https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2020/07/improving-assistive-technology
As part of the MDE studio, the student team of Togo Kida, Hane Roh, Mitsue Guerrero Monsalve, and Yash Bhutada (all MDE '20), created CADY, a personalized coach in the form of a handle for a walking aid. Employing calm technology principles, CADY passes rhythmic vibrations to subconsciously guide a person's gait. A person can maintain their stride by matching their "comfortable walking speed" with CADY's haptic feedback.
The project won the "Student Notable Health & Wellness Award" from the 2020 Core77 Design Awards: https://designawards.core77.com/health-wellness/...
Jenny Fan (MDE ’19), who has had an interest in the spread of fake news since the last presidential election, explored how a digital jury could be used for content moderation as her Independent Design Engineering Project (IDEP).
“We are experiencing a huge ‘techlash’ right now. And the current methods of content moderation are not doing much to build public trust,” said Fan. “I wondered how we could conceive of new models of how the governance system can relate to society.”
