Finding the words

My name is Zaria Smalls and I study a special concentration called Design Engineering and Social Change — a major where I focus on how technology has previously inhibited or promoted social change and how future design processes can be intentional in that change. I can’t give a clear explanation of how I got to my special concentration because it wasn’t until very recently that I could vocalize what I cared about but I can highlight the moments where I got my first glimpse into this world.

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I first began my academic career at Harvard as an electrical engineer. I didn’t mind the math courses; I loved the hands on work and project aspects and found electricity kind of cool. Then the upper-level course began and I got into the theory of electrical engineering and intermediately knew that I absolutely hated it. I personally knew, I would need to change what I studied to enjoy my last two years at Harvard. In my sophomore fall, I decided to take a design class just to change the pace of what my classes were. It was there that I actually found myself enjoying the work and excited to learn again. This particular class highlighted human centered design — the concept that you should always design to the needs of the target community — something that seemed so incredibly obvious and revolutionary for me. This is the moment where I began to form the words to describe what I am interested in.

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Later in my sophomore year, I attended the class for all sophomore students planning to pursue engineering degrees. This course was meant to teach students about the future job market, ethics and resources within the engineering school. The last section of this course, every student was asked to examine the data of a hypothetical car to determine whether to enter said car into a race. The data showed at what points the car engine would combust in relation to weather. None of the data was conclusive. However, we did know that not entering the race would theoretically cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars. If we did enter the race, we had the potential of winning millions. With this information, each student was asked to make a decision — do we or do we not enter the race. The obvious answer to me was no because there was a chance that our engine would combust and the potential that someone could get hurt or die. This thoughts had not apparently crossed the mind of all my peers; I was astonished to watch as some of peers advocating for racing and never even considered the possibility that anyone could get hurt. The data was later revealed to be the same as that of the Challenger.

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I still can’t tell you exactly how I learned about human factors work, design impact, user experience and really critically understanding how technology has radically shaped our society but I started by putting together this concentration. The experience about are the moments that made me think the most about what technology could and should be. From there, I decided to put together a special concentration that: analyzes how past technologies have impacted society, teaches the technical background of electrical engineering and finally use hands-on design classes to critically think of and practice the design process to build socially conscious technological solutions.

The interesting part to me is that if I were to look back on my life thus far, I would see that technology and social change has always been what I cared about. I grew up deeply caring about social justice. I have been a First-Year Urban Program leader for four years, where I spend my time teaching and talking to first-year students about how to engage with social justice issues in the Boston area. I’ve continually looked at mobility access a priority by working in Sao Paulo, Brazil on public transportation access, wheelchair design for those without upper-body mobility and discussing transportation deserts within from my own home of NYC. The businesses and technologies I have always found most interesting and innovative have tackled issues around economic, racial and/or climate injustice. So my focus has always been about how technology has failed under-served communities. It has always been how technology is inherently political and to ignore the power in which technology has to shape our world around us from a social standpoint would be an injustice to ourselves. I just couldn’t find the words until recently.

 

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