Like a city that holds infinite possibility, so do organizations. More specifically, the people—the citizens, the walkers—that make up organizations.
Arjun Srinivas and Mariah Mills assist in teaching design concepts to students in Georgia Tech’s Design Bloc VIP program tackling community-focused projects. Under instructor Shawn Harris, the class explores opportunities to support local communities in their goals to alleviate pollution in the Proctor Creek watershed with community partners and the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA), a nonprofit organization that looks to protect and restore the community’s natural resources.
In the past semester, Arjun and Mariah coached student groups throughout the course and led a workshop on ecosystem mapping. The class will be expanding on their research findings from Fall semester to look at the solution space in the upcoming semester.
“It was energizing to be a part of this class. Rarely do you see a course that is so closely involved in the community, designing with them, not for them, even as Covid prevented students and community members from interacting in person. As in our work at Harmonic, we had to be flexible and adaptable with the constraints of working virtually, but I believe it was a valuable experience for us and for all involved.”
— Mariah Mills
Design Bloc is a multi-disciplinary community where Georgia Tech students gain exposure to the importance and practice of design methods in a real-world setting.
