Sheng-Hung Lee Publishes on Design Methodologies with Industrial Designers Society of America

by Adam Felts

AgeLab research assistant and designer Sheng-Hung Lee is co-author of a paper with John Liu published by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). The paper discusses two design methodologies, systems engineering and design thinking, and their application to a cislunar space development project.

Originating in the 1960s and becoming widely popular in the early 21th century, design thinking can be broadly categorized as human-centered and qualitative in its approach. In contrast, systems engineering, which was developed close to the end of World War II, is function-centered and quantitative.

The authors combined these two methods to generate the preliminary design architecture of a lunar energy grid that would provide power to NASA’s future space missions based on a call for proposals from NASA’s 2020 RASC-AL competition. The researchers note that while space projects tend to be suited for systems engineering thinking, there is an opportunity for integration of design thinking into the process and in so doing conceive of new human-centered systems that better meet the needs of users and systems simultaneously.

AgeLab researcher John Rudnik and AgeLab Director Joseph F. Coughlin are also credited as authors on the paper.

Read more and view the paper here.

  • Share
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Get Involved

Interested in this area of study? See how you can participate in AgeLab research or become a volunteer.

GET INVOLVED TODAY

About the Author

Photo of Adam Felts
Adam Felts

Adam Felts is a researcher and writer at the MIT AgeLab. Currently he is involved in research on the experiences of family caregivers and the future of financial advice. He also manages the AgeLab blog and newsletter. He received his Master's in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Boston University in 2014 and his Master's of Theological Studies from Boston University in 2019.

More From the Blog

2020 OMEGA Summit Brings Together Students, Aging Professionals, Past Scholarship Winners

October 30, 2020

2020 Summer Interns Work on OMEGA, Lifestyle Leaders, C3 Project

August 26, 2020

2021 Spring Speaker Series Begins with Presentation from Dr. Catherine García on Social Determinants of Health

March 23, 2021