我的工作是为初高中生
I design engineering projects
设计工程项目
for middle school and high school students,
经常使用一些令人意想不到的材料
often using materials that are pretty unexpected.
我的灵感来自于日常生活中的问题
My inspiration comes from problems in my daily life.
举个例子
For example,
有一次我需要一套服装去参加一个漫画大会
one time I needed a costume to go to a comic convention,
但我又不想花太多钱
but I didn’t want to spend too much money,
所以我就自己制做
so I made my own …
做了一个会发光的皇冠和裙子
with a light-up crown and skirt.
（笑声）
(Laughter)
还有一次
Another time,
我气愤极了 因为我最喜欢的手机游戏
I was devastated because my favorite mobile game,
像素鸟
Flappy Bird,
要从应用商城下架了
was being taken off the app store.
（笑声）
(Laughter)
所以我那时处于两难境地
So I was faced with the dilemma
要么从此不更新我的手机 要么就再也不玩像素鸟
to either never update my phone or never play Flappy Bird again.
（笑声)
(Laughter)
两个呢 我都不愿意
Unhappy with both options,
于是我找到了一个对我很有意义的办法
I did the only thing that made sense to me.
我自己做了一个实体版本的像素鸟游戏
I made a physical version of Flappy Bird
它永远也不会从应用商城下架
that could never be taken off the app store.
(笑声)
(Laughter)
(音乐)
(Music)
(哔 哔)
(Beeping)
(音乐)
(Music)
（笑声)
(Laughter)
我也有几个朋友对这游戏上瘾了
So a few of my friends were also pretty addicted to the game,
我邀请他们一起来玩
and I invited them to play as well.
（视频）朋友：啊！
(Video) Friend: Ah!
(笑声)
(Laughter)
（视频）朋友：什么鬼？
(Video) Friend: What the heck?
（笑声)
(Laughter)
他们告诉我这和原版游戏一样 很燃
And they told me that it was just as infuriating as the original game.
（笑声）
(Laughter)
所以我把这个产品的演示上传到网络
So I uploaded a demo of this project online,
没想到它竟然火了
and to my surprise it went viral.
几天内就获得了两百多万的点击量
It had over two million views in just a few days.
（笑声）
(Laughter)
更有趣的是人们的评论
And what’s more interesting are people’s comments.
很多人都想要自己制作
A lot of people wanted to make it their own,
也有人向我问制作的方法
or asked me how it was made.
这是对我的创意的认可 通过一个创造性的项目
So this kind of confirmed my idea that through a creative project,
我们能够教给人们一些工程知识
we can teach people about engineering.
用那段非常火的视频赚来的钱
With the money made from the viral video,
我们开设了教室
we were able to let students in our classroom
让孩子们能够在盒子里制作自己的游戏
all make their own game in a box.
即使这挺具有挑战性的
Although it was pretty challenging,
但他们学了很多工程和编程方面的新概念
they learned a lot of new concepts in engineering and programming.
他们很渴望学习 因为想要完成这个游戏
And they were all eager to learn so they could finish the game as well.
（笑声）
(Laughter)
在盒子版像素鸟之前
So before Flappy Bird Box,
我就想过用创新工程项目去教导学生
I had the idea of using creative engineering projects to teach students.
我在初中教书的时候
When I was teaching at a middle school,
我们要求学生用一个标准工具套件制作一个机器人
we asked our students to build a robot from a standard technology kit.
我发现他们很多人都觉得无聊
And I noticed that a lot of them seemed bored.
然后他们中的一些开始用纸
Then a few of them started taking pieces of paper
装饰他们的机器人
and decorating their robots.
然后更多的学生参与进来
And then more of them got into it,
他们对项目也更感兴趣了
and they became more interested in the project.
我开始寻找更有创造性的方法
So I started looking for more creative ways
来教给学生科技知识
to introduce technology to students.
我发现大多数学校的科技套件
What I found was that most technology kits available in school
看起来都有一些吓人
look a little intimidating.
他们都是由无法改装的 的塑料部件构成
They’re all made of plastic parts that you can’t customize.
而且 它们非常昂贵
On top of that, they’re all very expensive,
每套花费上百美金
costing hundreds of dollars per kit.
所以大多数教室都是承担不起的
So that’s certainly not very affordable for most classroom budgets.
既然我找不到合适的东西
Since I didn’t find anything,
我决定自己做一些
I decided to make something on my own.
我从纸和布料开始
I started with paper and fabric.
毕竟我们从小就和它们打交道
After all, we all played with those since we were kids,
而且它们挺便宜的
and they are also pretty cheap
还可以从家里找到
and can be found anywhere around the house.
所以我创造了一个项目原型
And I prototyped a project
学生能够使用布料和瞪大的眼睛
where students can create a light-up creature
制作一个发光的生物
using fabric and googly eyes.
他们在教室里互相帮助
They were all helping each other in classrooms,
笑着一起讨论项目
and were laughing and discussing the project.
最重要的是
And most importantly,
他们都能够在项目中 加入自己的创意
they were able to insert their own creativity into the project.
因为这个项目的成功
So because of the success of this project,
我开发了更多工程项目
I continued to create more engineering projects
去挑战我的学生
to challenge my students.
我还开始把这些项目带到校外
And I also started to take these workshops outside school
以及社区
and into the community.
一些很有趣的事情发生了
And something really interesting happened.
我发现很多不同背景的人
I noticed a lot of people from very diverse backgrounds
开始参与这个项目
started coming to our workshops.
特别是
And specifically,
有比我预想更多女性和少数民族参与
there were a lot more women and minorities than I expected,
这在传统工程项目中并不常见
and that you wouldn’t usually see at a traditional engineering workshop.
现在看看2016年 大型科技公司的雇员报告
Now take a look at this employee report at a major technology company in 2016.
女性只占技术人员的19%
Women make up only 19 percent of the technology workforce.
少数民族（URM）只有4%
And underrepresented minorities make up only four percent.
这个数据看起来可能很熟悉
This statistic might look familiar
如果你走进一个高中机器人俱乐部
if you walked into a high school robotics club,
或者一个大学的工程课
or a college engineering class.
很多问题造成了
Now, there’s a wide variety of problems
科技人员缺少多样性
that contribute to the lack of diversity in the technology force.
可能一个解决方法是
Perhaps one solution could be
通过创造性项目来把科技带给学生
to introduce technology to students through creative projects.
我并不是说这可以解决一切
I’m not saying that this could solve everything,
但这可能会把科技带给
but it could introduce technology
本不会对其感兴趣的人
to people who originally wouldn’t be interested in it
因为他们在学校的时候科技课已经被教得并不令人感兴趣
because of how it has been portrayed and taught in school.
所以我们如何开始改变对科技的感观？
So how do we start to change the perception of technology?
大多数学生认为 工程是无聊且困难的
Most students think that it’s boring or unwelcoming,
所以我一直依照 这三条原理来设计项目
so I have always designed projects following three principles.
一是低门槛
First is having a low floor,
这意味着这个项目很好开始
and that means this project is easy to get started.
看看这个教程
So take a look at this tutorial.
我们要求学生学习的第一个项目
The first project we asked students to learn
是在纸上制作一个电路图
is to make a circuit on paper.
你能看到 这花不了很多时间学会
As you can see, it doesn’t take very long to learn,
对初学者来说也很简单
and it’s pretty easy even for beginners.
低门槛也意味着没有经济障碍
And having a low floor also means that we’re removing the financial barrier
去让人们放弃一个项目
that prevents people from completing a project.
所以用纸 铜胶带 灯泡和一个电池
So with paper, copper tape, lightbulb and a battery,
人们能够在一美元以下完成这个项目
people can complete this project for under a dollar.
第二个原理是高质量
So second principle is having a high ceiling.
只这意味着成长的空间很大
This means that there’s a lot of room to grow,
学生不断会受到挑战
and students are constantly being challenged.
刚开始可能只是一个会发光的生物
At first it might just be a light-up creature,
然后你就可以加入 一些传感器和微控制器
but then you can add sensors and microcontrollers,
然后开始编程 让它能和环境互动
and start to program the creature to interact with its environment.
（笑声）
(Laughter)
最后
And finally,
第三个原理是个性化
the third principle is customization.
这意味着我们可以 让这个项目和每个人都有关
This means that we can make this project relevant to anyone.
这就是使用日常材料的好处
That’s the beauty of using everyday materials;
用纸和布料来个性化很简单
it’s very easy to customize using paper and fabric.
所以即使你不喜欢像素鸟
So even if you don’t like Flappy Bird,
你也可以自己制作游戏
you can still make your own game.
（视频）学生： 我们的游戏贾斯丁比伯有关
(Video) Student: So our game is about Justin Bieber,
因为他一直开车超速
because he’s been speeding,
目标就是防止它被他 被洛杉矶警察抓住
and the object is to prevent him from getting caught by the LAPD —
（笑声）
(Laughter)
（视频）学生：但是他在改变
(Video) Student: Yeah, but he’s changing so —
我们是他的粉丝
we’re a part of his posse.
（笑声）
(Laughter)
谢谢
Thank you.
（鼓掌）
(Applause)