X-ology profiles SmartSurfaces, an interdisciplinary class in engineering, architecture and design

The interdisciplinary, hands-on course SmartSurfaces offers students from engineering, art and architecture unique opportunities to share their expertise and learn about cultural differences across specialties as they work their way through a challenging curriculum. Assistant Professor John Marshall and Associate Professor Karl Daubmann, along with Max Shtein, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, designed a project-based, think-tank-style learning experience for undergraduate students. In the 2011 course of SmartSurfaces, students worked with a real client, Power House Productions, a Detroit nonprofit that implements stabilization strategies in a neighborhood near Hamtramck, MI. The organization uses art and cultural resources to create spaces for artists to develop long-term creative projects for Detroit’s revitalization. For Power House, students developed off-grid, solar-tracking illuminated surfaces using Arduino and LEDs.

To read more about SmartSurfaces: click here.