Design Clinic is the capstone engineering design course at Smith College where students collaborate in teams on projects sponsored by industry and government. The Design Clinic Download podcast was launched in honor of the 20th anniversary of Design Clinic to highlight the experiences of Design Clinic teams and classmates through the years.
In July 2020, the SmithVent team of Smith engineering alums, faculty, staff, and friends won the CoVent-19 Challenge, an international competition to design an open-source ventilator to address the global ventilator shortage. This special episode features 13 members of the SmithVent team (Adrienne Horne, Alex Widstrand, Astrid Landeau, Chelsea Hinds-Charles, Dan Lin, Devin Carroll, Eleanor Ory, Eric Jensen, Luca DeGroot, Nick Howe, Nora Paul-Schultz, Sangye Kazi, and Susannah Howe), along with guest facilitator Emily Blatter Boyer, as they share their memories and takeaways five years later.
Details of the SmithVent team's winning ventilator design itself are available at tinyurl.com/smithvent (http://tinyurl.com/smithvent). After the competition, the SmithVent team also wrote a paper describing their journey and proposing a framework for collaborative distributed design and fabrication informed by their experience; the paper is available at bit.ly/SmithVentFrameworkPaper (http://bit.ly/SmithVentFrameworkPaper).
(Recorded June 2025)
2 Apr 2025
Episode 15: Collins Aerospace DC1819
This episode features four alums from the Class of 2019, Sarah Chu, Jackie Granillo, Gaea Ridenhour, and Shuying Zhen. Their Design Clinic project with Collins Aerospace focused on design and process improvements for the ram fan shaft heat exchangers in an airplane. (Recorded October 2024)
27 Jan 2025
Episode 14: Bechtel DC0405
This episode features three alums from the Class of 2005: Michelle (Montepara) Andersen, Rhonda (Stratton) Forde, and Kristen Wright-Ng. Their Design Clinic project with Bechtel Infrastructure focused on design options to increase sustainability of the Metrorail stations in the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. (Recorded October 2024)
30 Oct 2024
Episode 13: NRCS DC0910
Episode 13 features three alums from the Class of 2010: Taylor Buono, Katy Kaproth-Gerecht, and Katie Wood. Along with their fourth teammate, Etta Grover-Silva, they collaborated with NRCS, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, on the design of a solar-powered microirrigation system for a two-acre farm. They also developed a design calculator to size solar arrays for similar farms. (Recorded October 2024)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 12: First Engineering Class DC0304
Episode 12 features four alums from the Class of 2004: Caitlyn Butler, Sarah Culver Davis, Nikki Radford, and Meghan Sheehy. They graduated in the first class of engineering students at Smith and they were about to celebrate their 20th Reunion. (Recorded April 2024)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 11: Susannah Howe, DC Director
Episode 11 features an interview with Susannah Howe, the Design Clinic Director at Smith College. The interviewers are recent graduates Harriet Wright and Sophie Yates from the Zipline-DC2122 team. (Recorded August 2023)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 10: Zipline DC2122
Episode 10 features four alums from the Class of 2022: Kirsten Appell, Kalyani Weiss, Harriet Wright, and Sophie Yates. Their Design Clinic project with Zipline was on the design of an anti-icing solution for Zipline's unmanned aircraft. (Recorded February 2023)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 9: Dresser-Rand DC1213
Episode 9 features three alums from the Class of 2013: Zin Min Aye, Phoebe DeGroot, and Celeste To. Their Design Clinic project with Dresser-Rand was on the design of an impeller labyrinth seal for centrifugal compressors. (Recorded November 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 8: MITLL DC0708
Episode 8 features three alums from the Class of 2008: Indira Deonandan, Nora Paul-Schultz, and Katie Travis. Their Design Clinic project with MIT Lincoln Laboratory was on the design of a low-power, low-cost bioaerosol collector. (Recorded November 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 7: WHOI DC1011
Episode 7 features four alums from the class of 2011: Katie Mackenzie, Courtney Murphy, Sarah Pedicini, and Sally Stulberg. Their Design Clinic project with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, or WHOI, was on the design of a sparging chamber subsystem for underwater radon surveying. (Recorded November 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 6: Medtronic DC1516
Episode 6 features three alums from the class of 2016: Marina Biggio, Bethany Claps, and Dakota Murray. Their Design Clinic project with Medtronic was on the design of a Veress needle indicator for minimally invasive surgery. (Recorded November 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 5: NDPW DC0910
Episode 5 features three alums from the class of 2010, Margaret Akofio-Sowah, Mallori Harrell, and Lindsey Nguyen. Their Design Clinic project with the Northampton Department of Public Works was on the design for nitrogen reduction at the Northampton Wastewater treatment plant. (Recorded August 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 4: NNE DC1718
Episode 4 features three alums from the class of 2018: Leen Ajlouni, Jenny Banh, and Catherine Ding. Their Design Clinic project with NNE was on the design of a simulation to analyze and improve a pharmaceutical process. (Recorded August 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 3: Fuss & O'Neill DC0506
Episode 3 features four alums from the class of 2006: Sarah Breen, Sara Green, Sarah Mahon, and Krysten Oates. Their Design Clinic project with Fuss & O'Neill was on the design of a mobile hazardous materials treatment unit. (Recorded August 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 2: Schneider Electric DC1415
Episode 2 features four alums from the class of 2015: Nicole DeChello, Emily Dixon, Emily Lane, and Melinda Pontes. Their Design Clinic project with Schneider Electric was on the design of a low-flow measurement device for integration with a vortex flowmeter. (Recorded August 2022)
7 Sept 2024
Episode 1: Honda DC1920
Episode 1 features three alums from the class of 2020: Elana Helou, Annie Kary, and Alina Siminiouk. Their Design Clinic project with Honda was on the design of a long-range heavy payload drone. (Recorded July 2022)
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