Capstone Collaboration: KITE Scientists Mentor Carleton Industrial Design Students

“Good designs don’t always have to solve monumental problems; it should be a process that focuses on enhancing user interactions in meaningful ways, big or small.”  

That’s the introductory text of student Jenna Si’s banner in the KITE Research Institute, sharing the details of her yearlong capstone project.  

Next to it sits a degree’s worth of knowledge distilled into an invention: a seatbelt-like device that uses a gyroscope and accelerometer paired with an exercise app, to gamify improving balance in older adults.  

The game system is one of nine designs on display in the KITE Innovation Gallery until May 21. The capstone projects were created by fourth-year students from Carleton University's School of Industrial Design, with guidance from KITE researchers, who met with the students several times over the school year to offer their expertise.   

“Each capstone section has a theme their projects operate under. What united my group was health, technology, and textiles,” says Dr. Steven Pong, the Assistant Professor at Carleton who instigated the collaboration for his section of students. “KITE has all those things under one roof. It was a perfect partnership.” 

This partnership is the second initiative KITE has done with post-secondary institutions, following a similar collaboration with Toronto Metropolitan University's fashion students. KITE's commitment to being an educational leader is centered on encouraging future innovators to think about accessibility as an innate component of design.   

“Nowadays, students have many ways to accumulate knowledge,” says Dr. Sophia Yue Li, Staff Scientist at KITE and one of many involved with the partnership. “But sometimes you need an expert. You need the experience—you need training to know what is correct.” 

Dr. Li guided two student projects: Behzad Rashidizadeh’s hands-free mobility device for lower-leg injuries and Si’s game system designed to improve balance. She pushed the students she mentored to base their design decisions on evidence-backed research, ensuring their work builds on the existing scientific conversation. 

“KITE is heavily academic, meaning the research expectations for the students in my section looked a little different—in a good way,” said Dr. Pong. “The collaborators made sure [the students] did some sort of literature review to give them a slightly different emphasis and allow them to expand their skills.”  

Dr. Li says this more academic approach helped situate the students, grounding them in what was possible in their given time frame, and directing them towards the best path forward. As the projects developed, she noticed how the students’ confidence in their work increased with their knowledge.  

She enjoyed helping shape the next generation of innovators. “I hope this is just the first cohort, with more Carlton students coming to us,” she says. 

In addition to the selections displayed in the Innovation Gallery, some students got the chance to showcase their work at a booth at the International Conference on Aging, Innovation & Rehabilitation.  

“I’m so grateful for the support from KITE,” says Dr. Pong. “Being able to create a space that allows students to apply their learning, in a meaningful project, alongside a partner, in a realistic environment—that’s exactly what the students need.”