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Northwestern University

Camp EDI Brings First-Year Students Together

The EDI pre-term orientation is important for teaching design skills, but it also plays a key role in helping students form bonds with one another.

Dec 20, 2024

Sticky notes from a Camp EDI project

Paige Smith (EDI '25) remembers the excitement and nervousness she felt on her first day in Northwestern's Master of Science in Engineering Design Innovation (EDI) program. She also remembers how quickly the nervousness vanished as she got to know her classmates and heard from EDI alumni.

Smith credits the comfort she quickly felt to Camp EDI, a pre-term orientation designed to familiarize new students with the program. That is why she wanted to work as a second-year student lead and help organize this year's Camp EDI.

"I know how intimidating it can be to start something new like grad school," Smith said. "Being a student lead enabled me to get to know the new first-year students and make them feel welcome and comfortable as they started their time at EDI."

Camp EDI features training sessions with select tools for the design trade, including 2D visualization and communication, 3D modeling, and mechatronics. Students also work on a personal project to practice and develop skills learned in the sessions.

This year's Camp EDI featured a session solely focused on generative artificial intelligence (AI). The training, taught by professor Liz Gerber, focused on an array of questions about AI, including:

"From understanding problems and generating ideas to sketching solutions and building mockups, generative artificial intelligence has prompted a wave of experimentation in design," Gerber said. "Designers are using generative AI tools at every stage of the design process. This workshop addressed the excitement, fear, and speculation about what’s to come next."

While the technical lessons are critical, so too are the opportunities to get to know other EDI students, Smith said. 

One of the most vivid memories from her own Camp EDI experience was a first-day session where each student shared the story of their name. Smith joked that the lesson was a helpful memorization tool, but it also provided the first glimpse of everyone's background and personality.  

That experience influenced the theme for this year's Camp EDI: "Pieces of us." 

"I suggested that theme as an ode to mosaics and the many small pieces that come together to make us who we are," Smith said. "Each cohort makes up a mosaic of talents and personalities that come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts." 

Her ultimate goal for the event was to help first-year students build on their own excitement for the EDI program as they developed bonds with one another. 

"I hope that incoming EDI students came away from Camp EDI with more confidence in themselves and their ability to navigate ambiguous, multi-faceted challenges," she said. "Most importantly, I hope the cohort develops strong connections with one another and appreciates the value in being surrounded by such a unique array of skills, strengths, and interests."

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