2017

Maplewood YMCA

The prompt for the Eureka! event was how can we enhance the ageless program design to appeal to and de-stigmatize younger and older populations to increase their participation at the Maplewood YMCA?

This year we teamed up with the Maplewood YMCA as part of United Way. Even more exciting, this year’s EUREKA! was sponsored by a local design studio, Dixon Schwabl.

We encouraged all design disciplines to participate as this year we worked on revising the user experience of senior citizens at the YMCA. Lots of opportunity for creativity and challenge this year!

Michael Kelly is a second-year graduate student in Industrial Design at RIT. He’s from New Jersey (the NYC part, not the Phili part) and studied Human Factors and Ergonomics at Cornell University. Before coming to RIT, he helped to design, test, and sit in furniture at Herman Miller. His favorite food is real food and not the cast-foam stuff. His spirit animal is his tortoiseshell tabby whose name is not fit for print. He’s a facilitator in this year’s EUREKA! weekend and a passionate proponent of the power of design for social good.

Justin Callaghan is an Industrial Design Senior in the class of 2018. He is a diverse designer with a love for consumer electronics, packaging and design thinking. Justin loves jumping into new challenges and solving interesting problems. Outside of class, he’s either working with local start ups, eating unreasonable amounts of food, or listening to a silly podcast.

Mimi Ace is an interaction designer working at ITX Corp in Rochester, NY, where she has been devoted to digital product design for Paychex. At ITX, Mimi is involved throughout the product lifecycle, including research, information architecture, prototyping, and user testing. She strives to create meaningful experiences that account for changing technology in order to positively impact users’ lives. She graduated in 2017 with a BFA in Graphic Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Kimberly Patt graduated from the Graphic Design class of 2016. She is a visual designer who loves combining branding and user experiences. Kim loves a challenge and enjoys designing on projects that promote growth within the community. When she is not designing things she can be found hiking, sipping on tea, or looking for the greatest slice of pizza.

EUREKA! 2017 would not be possible without the generous contribution of its sponsor, Dixon Schwabl, whose creatives will be helping us during the event and judging the final presentations.

We are so fortunate to have Patricia Moore this year to help us during the design blitz.

Patricia Moore (born 1952) is an American industrial designer, gerontologist, and author. She earned her bachelor’s degree from RIT.

Pattie has been recognized by ID Magazine as one of the “40 Most Socially Conscious Designers” in the world. In 2000 she was selected by a consortium of news editors and organizations as one of the “100 Most Important Women in America.” ABC World News featured her as one of “50 Americans Defining the New Millennium.”​