Design week, the infamous week that we’ve all been hearing about since the start of the year. For those of you who do not know what Design Week is, it’s essentially a whole week dedicated to the Design and Manufacture module. In one week, all teams will have to design and complete a product for one of the 3 given problems. Yeah it’s crazy. Previously all design projects span for the term but now we will be doing all that in within one week.
Previously, it’s known to be the week where students compete to see who needs the least sleep but now the department has made significant changes to the structure of the week; having deadlines and tasks to be submitted by the end of each day and it’s godsend. Not only does it eliminate a lot of tension and stress, it still gives us time to get much needed rest (because we’ve all been just grinding on normal weeks), it also creates the feeling like we’re actually in the workforce, being engineers and enjoying the work that we do.
Like I said, there was a task to be submitted and a deadline that comes with it for every single day. It’s therefore crucial to have good time management with all the members and split the workload evenly to get the greatest quality and most work done in the small time frame. Over the whole week, i think that Wednesday as the toughest day as it’s only half-day. The good thing is that it’s only a half day: I get to go back home early to cook and bake because I love being in the kitchen, but the bad thing is that the time we have to complete our daily task was only 3 hours. It was TENSE. Everyone was running around and all the rooms were noisy with all the groups discussing on their work. But by the end of it, all the teams pulled through!
The week ended on Friday, with a presentation on the concourse where all the teams presented their design to a group of assessors that were our tutors and lecturers. It isn’t as tense as everyone thinks it is because everyone was just glad and relieved that the week was over. The best part? There was free drinks and pizza after the presentation for everyone. The department ordered so much pizza that everyone had their own pizza and there were more to spare.
So how did I find the week? I must say I genuinely enjoyed it. I know i can’t speak for everyone because some of my friends found the week really draining and tough but I believe it’s how you make of the week that counts. One important factor that plays is the team synergy. It’s crucial that the whole team runs on good positive energy and good vibes! I’m lucky enough to have an amazing team. Everyone pulled their weight, everyone were responsible and were always ready to help each other out whenever someone needed some help or support. There were always laughter and jokes in our team and I genuinely think that it helped a lot. Not only did we get to know each other better, we diffused the tense energy in the room and made work seem enjoyable. Another perk of design week is that the department feeds us. On Tuesday we had catered lunch and it’s definitely fancier that the catered lunch that we will typically get for events, and another was free pizza on Friday like i previously mentioned. A hectic week but an enjoyable one for sure!
