FUSED Program

The FUSED (Functional Uses of Socially Engaged Design) Program has been designed specifically for College of Engineering project teams with a clear social impact or community engagement element in their mission. Teams that participate in this will benefit from collaborative accountability and Socially Engaged Engineering & Design support. 

Teams will also be asked to complete 4 design skill modules throughout the year specifically tailored to the project team experience. Each month, participants will learn about and create a functional and relevant SED tool or strategy to deploy in their design process. Teams will be required to meet with program staff regularly to receive feedback on progress, referrals to additional campus partners as needed, and support in seeking external resources. 

Teams that complete the program expectations will be declared a Socially Engaged Design Team and awarded funding, public recognition, and access to new C-SED resources.

FUSED Program Components:

The FUSED Program for teams will operate from late October through early April with 1-2 requirements per month and unlimited mentoring and guidance from C-SED staff.

Student Project Team Accelerator Kick-Off – Saturday, October 19th

All project teams will join together to receive a program welcome as well as a clear and transparent explanation of program expectations and purpose. Individual team members will be able to choose to attend the Introduction to Socially Engaged Design workshop or another workshop if already familiar with SED. The Introduction to SED workshop is a requirement for all participants to ensure an informed consent regarding the spirit of SED and how it will interact with their team’s mission.

Monthly Touchpoints – November – March

Initial Planning Meeting:

During this touchpoint, project team leads will meet with program staff to co-select team goals for the program, identify appropriate design skills to learn, and to introduce program staff to the team’s mission.

SED Content + Tool Development:

Once each month, project teams will receive instruction regarding a socially engaged engineering and design skill or topic and have the opportunity to create a tool to actualize these skills. These content and skills are co-selected during the initial planning meeting by both program staff and the team themselves to ensure the tools are relevant to the team’s mission.

• 	Topic:	Skill(s):	Tool(s):
  	Stakeholder Engagement	Stakeholder Identification & Mapping Interviewing Skills	Stakeholder Map Outreach Plan Interview Protocol
  	Research & Observations	Observational Framework Observations vs. Assumptions Benchmarking	Observation Plan Documentation Plan
  	Data Synthesis & Problem Definition	Data Synthesis Writing a Problem Statement Contextual Factors	Themes & Insights  Problem Statement, Needs Statements/ HMW Documentation Contextual Factor Research Plan
  	Requirements & Specifications	Determining Reqs + Specs from a Problem Space	Reqs & Specs Table
  	Solution Ideation	Idea Generation Idea Selection	Large quantity of diverse ideas Decision Matrix Selected idea(s)
  	Developing a Solution	Prototyping as a Tool for Feedback Stress Testing a Solution	Prototyping Plan List of Stress Test Lenses
  	Realizing a Solution	Full Scale Implementation Solution Longevity  Post-Solution Impact Studies	Implementation Plan Sustainability Plan

End of Year Report – April

This report will feature a summary of the team’s work that year, goals for the following year, and post-program reflection questions themed on the Socially Engaged Design’s four values.

Join the Program

Join us in the FUSED Program and be part of a community dedicated to making a meaningful impact through engineering. Move your team forward, develop your socially engaged engineering and design skills, and access a new level of support and resources!

To apply, the project team lead(s) must complete the below application by Monday, October 14th. The program kick-off on Saturday, October 19th from 11am – 3pm is an essential component of the experience – please make your calendars and inform your team members to do so as well. 

APPLY HERE

The inaugural FUSED Program cohort will be capped at 8 individual project teams to ensure quality support.