Design in the Age of Entanglement
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Design in the Age of Entanglement
0Fawwaz Habbal
SEAS Executive Dean
Director of Graduate Engineering Programs
Harvard University2

From Enlightenment to Entanglement• 19th Century was the age of Enlightenment• The realms of human exploration and expression• Built siloes (Disciplines), both in means and in mindset• 20th Century built technologies and solutions mostly basedon these disciplines• The 21st Century is breaking away from these notions
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In the 21st Century,
Science,Engineering,
Designand Art
are Entirely Entangled
4Entanglement
Boundaries between disciplines are melting
No more separation between•

Culture and Nature•

Artificial and Organic•

Synthetic biology or Biosystems•

Brain and Artificial Intelligence•

Imaging and Chemical Composition of matter5

Connections among Domains of Creativity
Science, Engineering, Design and Art• Science: explore nature• Engineering: invent & create for humanity• Design: communicate• Art: express

Our world requires convergence of these areas
6Arts and Science• Art and Science are human needs to express the world around us• They offer speculations about our reality• Artists produced paintings to make sense of reality• Scientists advance hypotheses and proofs to understand reality

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Impossible to discern one modality from another

Each of the modalities produces ‘currency’ by transforming into another8th20 Century

Impressive Human Achievements

9Telephone

Home Appliances

PersonalComputersRadio/TV

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Electrification

Automobiles

Spacecrafts

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Aviation

Water supplies and Distribution

Agricultural Mechanization

Petroleum Industry

Nuclear Energy

12The Internet
Highways

The Internet
13Fibers and Lasers

Electronics

Imaging

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HealthTechnologies

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So,… what is wrong?

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These successes created many
challenges!

17What are these Challenges?
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What are the origins of the challenges?
Can they be removed / mitigated?
What is the role of the educational institutions?
Can we create a unified front to mitigate?
Work at Harvard
Q: How do we participates as a unified front?
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NAE challenges{http://engineeringchallenges.org/GrandChallengeScholarsProgram.aspx}
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Advance personalized learning
Engineer the tools of scientific discovery
Advance health informatics
Provide access to clean water
Restore and improve urban infrastructure
Engineer better medicine
Reverse engineering the Brain
Provide energy from Fusion
Making Solar Energy Economical
Manage the nitrogen and carbon cycles
Develop Carbon sequestration methods
Enhance virtual reality
Secure Cyber spaceProtect against Nuclear terror

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A Broader View
The Sustainable Development Goals

20• A deliberative process involved 194 Member States• United Nations Resolution A/RES/70/1 of 25 September 2015

• The proposal contained 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad
range of sustainable development issues

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Themes:• End poverty (lack of income and resources)• Zero hunger• Reduce inequalities• Affordable clean energy• Improve health (increase life expectancy, reduce some of the common killers,
reduce pollution)• Improve education (inclusive and equitable)• Make cities more sustainable (safe and resilient cities)+• Protect oceans and forests• Combat climate change (regulate emissions and promote sustainable energysources)• Peace and justice22

What do we really need (vs. want!)• Healthy life (minimum sickness)• Live without fears (security)• Joyful and meaningful life (mentally rewarded, …)• Have a livable earth beyond our lives (sustainable earth)23

But... To achieve any of these we need todeal with them as systems!

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Dealing with Systems – very difficult• Human design and implementation• Human interventions• Human control / Nature control / Autonomous control

Systems are interconnected with Feedback
Loops: Complexity• Human invented technology• Human nature directed technology• Technology is affecting human nature• Reading changed brain wiring• Internet changing human brain, social behavior and how we think

Feedback control loops create dynamic processes
Time delays create significant complexity

Systems Flows• Each of these flows have decision points• Each of these flows have action points

Disciplines in Siloes cannot describe systems andcannot point to decision and action points

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Human Goals
Responsibilities as Educators and Institutions

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Our Responsibility• Through education, we understand the obligations and privileges ofliving in a free, democratic society.
• Through education we achieve self-actualization.
• Want students to have impact by being• critical thinkers• creative• knowledgeable “a little of everything and something very well.”34

Harvard is not a typical prototype

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Harvard School ofEngineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)
A School with entangled disciplines!

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SEAS as Integrator with Harvard
GDS

HMS

HBSGSE

FAS

HLS

HSPH

HKSG

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SEAS Academic Areas – no departments

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Connections

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Engineering within Liberal Arts
Engineering education in liberal arts institutions is different fromthe purely technical education• Liberal arts provide students a well-rounded education• Undergraduate students are required to take general education
AND engineering courses (satisfy the ABET requirements)
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Connections to human challenges
Horizontally• Programs for engineering concentrators and non-engineering undergraduate• Courses that are related to creativity, problem solving and systemsdynamics• In addition, there are courses that teach students about entrepreneurshipand innovation.
Vertically• Programs at the masters level
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Vertical programs
Master in Design Engineering• Created to tackle large scale “wicked” problems• The mission is to train students to address and solve
Complex Multidisciplinary Human Problems which involveand span Technology, Economics, Society and Individuals

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Master in Design Engineering(MDE)
A collaborative degree withHarvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Engineering and Applied Sciences43

Master in Design Engineering
Academic Oversight• Steering Committee: faculty from both Harvard Graduate

School of Design, and Harvard Engineering and AppliedSciences. Active participation from both Deans.
• Co-directors from both School, lead the admission committee• Advisory Committee from Industry and Academia
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Elements of the pedagogy• Literacy of innovation: Problem solving through innovation• Systems solution [design and business thinking, experienceswith industry, interactions with clients on a global scale]• Diversity [knowledge, culture, gender,…]• Breadth in knowledge and background• Communication• Teamwork
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Designing forSocietySociety
AESTHETICSCULTURETechnology
SCIENCEMATH
VISUALIZATIONSUSTAINABILITY

GOVERNMENT

EnvironmentRESOURCES
CLIMATEINFRASTRUCTURE

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Designing forSociety

Emphasis on• Leadership• Global collaborations• Ethical thinking• Industry/Government
connections• Entrepreneurial
opportunities

Society
AESTHETICSCULTURETechnology
SCIENCEMATH
VISUALIZATIONSUSTAINABILITY

GOVERNMENT

EnvironmentRESOURCES
CLIMATEINFRASTRUCTURE

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1st MDE Cohort (2018)• 120 applicants (no advertising)• 15 Enrolled• 9 men and 6 women2nd MDE Cohort (2019)• 130 applications• Planned on 20 enrolled48

1st MDE Cohort (2018)• 120 applicants (no advertising)• 15 Enrolled• 9 men and 6 women

2nd MDE Cohort (2019)• 130 applications• Planned on 20 enrolled

Science &Engineering

3

Design &Architecture

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3

2

Business &Management49

1st MDE Cohort (2018)• 120 applicants (no advertising)• 15 Enrolled• 9 men and 6 women

2nd MDE Cohort (2019)• 130 applications• Planned on 20 enrolled

Design &Architecture

Science &Engineering
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Business &Management
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MDE Cohort Origins - 15 Students, 9 Countries51

Pedagogy and Curriculum

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Collaborative Design Engineering Studio• 2 semesters• Group work, State of Knowledge, Analysis Project,
Developing Design Brief, and presentations.
• Entire MDE cohort works collaboratively on complex,
real world problem involving multiple stakeholders todevelop innovative, comprehensive solutions.
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Integrative Frameworks forTechnology, Environment & Society (2 semesters)• Design Thinking• Manufacturing Processes• Competitive Strategy• Innovation• Finance/Accounting• Intellectual Property• Technology Transfer• Government Regulation• Public Policy• Aesthetics• Ethics• Leadership55

2nd year
Individual Design Engineering Project• Each student works on a project of his/her choice• Academic advisors from SEAS and GSD• The Design Engineering Project is an opportunity to deepen

knowledge acquired in the first semester, and explore
personal interests
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The MDE – a master degree, why not a PhD?
• Any degree is a certification of competency• MDE is to train People from all over the world in working on
Human Challenges• Graduates are professionals able to address systems issues• It still requires deep disciplinary learning (8 elective courses),but no particular discipline
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The MDE – a master degree, why not a PhD?
• Graduates are professionals able to address systems issues• Doctoral education (or PhD): advance fundamental
understanding or solve a problem (mostly in a discipline)• Working on Challenges is broader than working on a
disciplinary topic, and we do not expect students to create
fundamental work, but significant understanding of the overallsystems• ‘Informing of possible areas for changing the response of thesystems and bring a human situation to a much better state’58What about an undergraduate degree?

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SEAS Undergraduate Concentrators
832

892

772

943

279

Applied Mathematics AB

410

Computer Science AB

274

295

348

52
47
57
44
58

61
43
53
40
62

37
40
63
37
77

Biomedical Engineering AB
Electrical Engineering SB
Mechanical Engineering SB
Engineering Sciences AB
Engineering Sciences SB

285

677

279
243

564
456
354
291

398

121
69% of College

215
156

152
90

197

177
159

226

73

73

73

80

116

108

57
38
47
38
75

93

109

42
53

49
45

62
39

57
55

07-08

08-09

09-10

10-11

11-12

12-13

13-14

14-15

15-16

16-17

6%

7%

8%

9%

11%

14%

15%17%

18%

19%

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Harvard College Students• 1600 are admitted from a pool of 37,000 applicants• Allowed to take any class in any order• Declare ‘concentration’ after 3 semesters• Must satisfy both
‘Gen Ed’ curriculum + Engineering /Applied Sciences curriculum• Not two students have taken the same courses or had the same path
• Advising is a MUST61

In Construction:
A concentration on

Creativity and Innovation
Fill the space between and beyond the disciplines

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Value Creation requires Innovation
Innovation has become a crucial literacy for driving
economic, social, and cultural change around the world.

Never been comprehensively addressed as a trans-discipline,
a specific course of study, and in a truly global learning
format.

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Focus on Innovation• Purpose is to enable students as interpreters and creators ofnew value• Goal is to engender innovative capacity in our students
Provide them with belief in their own agency and an ability tocarry it out
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Innovation is a broad domain• Innovation can be defined as: creation of a viable new offering• Offering is more than products• New Business model• New systems• New engagements• Also combination of the above

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Innovations Outcomes

Configuration

OfferingExperiences

Innovation
lives in the center of entanglement
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The world is FLATThe algorithmic world is flat
But not the innovation space!

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The 2016 world as seen from Innovation Capacity

The north-south divide is a socio-economic and political division

68Yesterday and today: Fantastic talks.
Need more discussions and collaborations
How can we work together?

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Thank you

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