When: April 15th, 2009, 9:00-19:00
Where: Bahen Centre, 40 St. George St., University of Toronto
What: Check out the Engineering Science student projects on how to improve the TTC: making the “better way” better.
Contact: For questions about the event: 416-978-8634

From the Event website:

The Division of Engineering Science in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering would like to invite you to the 2009 Praxis II Design Showcase.  The Praxis courses in Engineering Science provide our students with the opportunity to apply their engineering and design skills to challenges ranging in scope from the personal to the global.  Praxis II targets local challenges, and the 2009 version of the course focuses on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) system.

Last year’s showcase produced fascinating designs for solving issues with the accessibility of automated entrances, the safety of passengers boarding and disembarking streetcars, and subway surface access points, among others.  The showcase was well attended by other University of Toronto students and faculty, representatives from Metrolinx, CBC Radio, as well as Councillor Adam Giambrone, pictured at right.  A Praxis student was also interviewed on CBC Radio’s Here and Now.  More pictures of posters, prototypes and the event from last year are available here.

Our first year EngSci students spend the first half of the course identifying and researching issues of usability, accessibility, and sustainability within the TTC system.  The result is a set of 80 Requests for Proposals (RFPs) describing design challenges solvable by their peers.  The top six of these RFPs are selected as the design challenges to be solved during the second half of the course.

This year, our students identified challenges such as platform congestion and safety, emergency notification, energy saving, bus interior designs, and way-finding signage.  Short summaries of the chosen design problems follow, with the full documents available through the title links:

• Improving Passenger Safety Near the TTC’s Exposed Subway Tracks
  This RFP calls for designs – other than physical barriers – that will increase safety for TTC passengers on the subway platforms near the exposed tracks and reduce the number of track related accidents and deaths.
• Solving the Heat Loss Problem
  This RFP calls for heat containment strategies that will improve energy efficiency and customer comfort in subway stations, while supporting the TTC’s 2008/2009 environmental policy (using Museum as the piloted station).
• Improving Wayfinding Signage on the TTC
  This RFP calls for the design of a unified approach to signage, with a focus on improved accessibility and effectiveness, to help users better make their way through the TTC system (and in particular St. George station).
• Service Delays Caused by the Inefficiency of Passenger Dynamics Into and Out of Subway Cars
  This RFP calls for a design to help regulate passenger flow in and out of subway trains in an attempt to reduce the station dwell time of subway trains and limit delays caused by inefficient boarding and disembarking practices, especially during rush hours.
• Revising TTC Bus Interiors to Maximize Space and Boost Passenger Satisfaction
  This RFP calls for improvements to the interior design of the Orion buses, focusing on encouraging use of the back half of the bus, increased passenger comfort and safety, while at least maintaining current capacity levels.
• Improving the Emergency Response System on the TTC Subways to Decrease Delay Time and Increase Safety
  This RFP calls for proposals to improve the TTC’s ability to retrieve, classify, and relay information about passenger initiated emergency calls within the subway network.

The class will have spent the last six weeks of the course designing and prototyping solutions to these RFPs.  On April 15, 2009, the Division of Engineering Science will be publicly showcasing their designs.  Student teams will be presenting their proposed design solutions continuously throughout the day from 09:00-19:00 in the Bahen Centre lobby, located at 40 St. George Street.

We encourage all interested Torontonians to drop by the Showcase, explore our students’ designs, and learn more about the praxis of engineering design.  Please drop by during the day, and stay for as long as you would like.  If you’d like more information, please feel free to contact us by email or phone at the addresses to the right.

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