Jennifer Wu is congratulated by President George Rupp after
receiving a check from Kiscom, Inc. for her toy design, "Drum
Revolution." Prof. Anthony Renshaw, right, looks on.
When Jennifer Yu '03 was faced with the prospect of designing a toy for the first-year engineering design course, she was influenced by the world around her. "Growing up in Hong Kong," she said, "so many games revolve around music. Karaoke is big in Asia and music is generally well received by the public, so I thought I would do something with music."
Jennifer designed electronic drumsticks that contain lights that blink synchronously to music. Her design was so promising that a toy company bought the rights to produce it. Kiscom, Inc., the company that has worked with mechanical engineering professor Anthony Renshaw since 1997, has reviewed more than 500 student designs over the years, giving feedback to students about their efforts. Jennifer's "Drum Revolution" was the first design they have successfully licensed.
Jennifer's toy features colorful lights that blink according to moves, is sensitive to drumming and music, and can be used with preprogrammed songs. "It is the light effect that makes it special," agreed Kiscom associates Adam Kislevitz and Steve Casino.
Kiscom took the toy design and produced three prototypes in anticipation of production. The prototypes developed from a multicolored drumstick to solid yellow and, finally, to the solid purple drumsticks at the bottom of the illustration.
Long before Jennifer learned of the toy company's interest, her reaction to the design course was enthusiastic. "It was such a change from the other first year math and science courses and it was more in keeping with the idea of the Columbia Core [Curriculum], with a broader educational view. It was really good for creativity. At first I was stressed about learning how to use the program [Alias] but once I learned it, it was easy. I loved it so much that I took the second semester graphics course as an engineering technical elective."
Her testimonial highlights the strengths of the course. "One of the challenges of a first-year design course is finding a project that matches the technical capabilities of the students and designing toys is a perfect way to teach the design process," said Prof. Renshaw. "The design process is the same: concept development, system-level design, detail design and testing and refinement, knowing who the customer is and what his needs are."
Despite her rapid segue into the world of business, Jennifer is not planning a career in design. "I am very practical," she said, "so I am majoring in operations research with a minor in economics. Last summer I interned at Goldman Sachs and I enjoyed it very much. I also think that I would like project-oriented consulting but, fortunately, I don't have to make up my mind until I graduate." This summer, she will be attending Columbia's Summer Language Program in Beijing to learn Mandarin. Said the practical Jennifer, "I can speak Cantonese but, since I plan to go back to Asia at some point, it will be helpful to know Mandarin."