alumni feature re u t tur Fea a e F The rationale for using truck parts for the NeoNurture incubator was that Toyota trucks are everywhere. And so are the replacement parts. The goal is to use local resources, local repair sources, and local replacement parts. DtM is working with a manufacturer in Brazil to bring the incubator to market. Weis said the project raises a bigger question for the design community: “It gets people thinking about how we use existing materials. How do we design products that can be repaired and replaced? And how can we take advantage of parts that are acceptable to use rather than create more stuff? “It’s an honor to see these accolades on the pages of Time and other magazines. For a while, the prototype was sitting in my living room!” Weis said. “But the real test is whether it positively impacts people.”
Teacher/Mentor Improving people’s lives is a major motivator for Weis. He credits his time at MSUM for igniting a passion for service. While at MSUM, he volunteered with kids at the local juvenile detention center. “Finding creative outlets for these kids to express themselves was important. I loved seeing their excitement, so I credit a lot of what I do now to those experiences.” Weis’ thesis work in graduate school centered on secondgeneration immigrant teens. Now his company, called See Why Studios, offers workshops for high school kids to learn the discipline of design, and through it, critical thinking skills.
but I never gave it a name,” Weis said. (See related story on Jeff Johnson on page 12.) “Developing a brand for Tom is challenging because he is so prolific and wise in his work that you have to figure out a way to speak to that,” Johnson said. “That’s why See Why is perfect. In order to understand his work, you have to see the work. And when you see the work, you understand it.”
Artist/Builder Over the years Weis has done a lot of specialty, high-end projects for well-to-do clients. These days he’s doing less of that, recently finishing the interior design of a restaurant. “People in the community know I build things, but I’m also an artist and designer so I have creative freedom to design more visually interesting projects.” He’ll also return to Rhode Island School of Design this fall to teach a studio course on modular furniture. His Rockland studio sits near the ocean. He spends some time on personal art, usually sculpture or painting, but most of the time he’s solving design challenges. It’s a life well carved for a man who sees with his hands. (Weis was featured in the Spring 2004 Alumnews in a story titled, “Orphan returns to Vietnam.”) > KRISTI MONSON
The hands-on program focuses on learning by doing. All of the visiting educators are expert practitioners who bring a purposeful process to their work of humanitarian, environmental and socially aware endeavors. That calling has simmered in his soul for years. As an apprentice boat builder with The Atlantic Challenge Foundation, he learned the value of experiential learning. “After five years of college I moved to Rockland, Maine (pop. 7,441) and learned by using my hands—things I never would have learned from writing papers or reading books. Experiential learning hit close to home because for two years it was all about taking risks and learning from my mistakes.”
Making a “Best Invention” Incubator > Project owners: The Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, Design that Matters
His company is called See Why “because I wear many different work hats, and I needed a brand and company name that shows why I do this and why I do that. “See why” is important in all that I do.”
> Project team: Tom Weis and physicians, engineers, human factors specialists
Weis is collaborating with Johnson’s company, Spunk Design Machine, to help brand See Why. “I’ve always done the work,
> Completion time: 3 weeks
> Users: Health care workers in rural clinics, primarily in developing countries > Purpose: Germ-free environment, warmth, easily transportable
Alumnews Summer 2011
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