Rachel Inman
Major: Industrial Design, Business Administration minor Year: Fifth Year Scholar
Hometown: Greenville, South Carolina
Honors: Fifth Year Senior, Community Advisor, School of Design Merit Award Winner, Dean's List
Project title: "My City, My Block"
Type of Support: SURF
When did you become involved in undergraduate research at CMU? During my freshmen and sophomore years, I was part of the design team for the Thought Undergraduate Research Journal. While working on this journal I became intrigued by the high level of research occurring on the undergraduate level. Each year, I would visit Meeting of the Minds, walking through the exhibit spaces, and discussing the projects with my peers. It was not until spring of my junior year that I decided I wanted to undertake my own research project in the form of a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
How did you find your mentor? My advisors for my SURF project are Dylan Vitone, Associate Design Professor, Joshua Welsh, Adjunct Design Professor, and Don Carter, Director of Remaking Cities Institute. Dylan Vitone has been my professor every year of my time at CMU, first in photography and then as an independent study advisor. Most recently, he served as my advisor for an independent study I did during my spring semester of junior year. In addition to being my professor, Dylan Vitone has also served as the faculty advisor for The CMU Mural Club, an arts education and mentoring program a fellow design student and I created. Joshua Welsh was an adjunct professor for my Industrial Design Studio fall of my junior year. Additionally, Joshua Welsh has played a key role in advising me as I navigate my dual interests in industrial and urban design. Don Carter has also played a key role in helping me research and explore ideas of urban design theory and practice. He has been instrumental in advising me as I plan my future direction in the areas of industrial design, urban design, and community planning.
How has your idea/project evolved through the academic years? During the spring semester of my junior year, I did an independent study with my design and photography professor, Dylan Vitone. The independent study focused on documenting shopping centers in the Pittsburgh area, who was using the spaces and what activities were occurring in each space. Although this was a photography project, it brought up questions around the development of each shopping center, the demographics of the area, and the weak or strong urban planning behind each neighborhood. These questions became the catalysts for what would become My City. My Block.
What successes or difficulties have you encountered in this project or others? My City. My Block was the first project I have undertaken in which I feel like I had enough time to come up with a truly well-resolved solution. Most of my studio projects last between 3 to 4 weeks. This time constraint is useful for trying to expose students to a wide range of projects in a semester's time, but can sometimes prevent students from feeling they have full grasp on a given problem and enough time to create a polished solution. My SURF project not only allowed me to take an idea from initial planning stages to completion, but also pushed me to resolve how I planned to present my findings to both experts and novices.
If you could summarize your experience in one word, what would it be? Enlightening