Philosophers of Technology have often argued that technologies are value-laden rather than being merely value-neutral. One reason for thinking so is because the act of building or making always presupposes value-judgments about what we think is worth building or making in the first place. Put another way, what we make or build often reveals what we think is worth doing: making and building reveal what we take to be a problem, and whether that problem is worth solving.
Give an account of your own values infrastructures (see the reading by Cook) that explain your intentions behind the design of your senior project. Assume that your senior design project is going to be adopted in a country outside the US and Canada. Consider the potential for conflict at the level of differing values infrastructures between you as a designer and the adopting population as end users.
Write an essay that addresses the following questions:
1. Describe what you are building for your senior project.
2. Explain: why you are making it?; how are you making it?; for whom are you making it?
3. Assume that your design will be adopted in a country outside the US and Canada. Pick one country only.
4. Give an account of your own values infrastructures that best explain your intentions behind your senior project. Consider the intentions behind your design and the intentions of your targeted end users. Can you anticipate or foresee unintentional consequences in your design? Can you foresee whether your design will be used ethically or unethically? Are there any ways you would not want your design to be used at all?
Formatting: APA, Arial in 12pt, at least 750 words, please no cover sheets.
Criteria:
Thesis: Thesis is clear and coherent throughout the entire paper (20 pts).
Description: Descriptions of senior project design and its introduction to another country are clear and relevant (20 pts).
Values Infrastructures: Explanation of values infrastructures is clear and detailed (20 pts).
Reflection on ethics and senior project design: Reflection upon ethics, intention, and design is clear and detailed (20 pts).
Essay mechanics: Executes on spelling, grammar, and paragraph structure perfectly (20 pts).
P.S. How are you my friend! I hope everything goes well for you. The attachments is the lecture slides that may give you an idea what this assignment is about. Please cite at least one source from the slides. If you recall the previous essays, “Political Qualities” and “Redesigningthe Electric Trike”, this assignment shares some of the same information. You may want to give it a quick look. Anyway, I will try to explain the 4 questions briefly.
1. We are building an electric trike powered by paddles and electric motor. The main components are chassis, powertrain (crank paddle, motor, battery, solar panel, steering system, and top cover), and top cover.
2. We are building it because the previous version is too chunky. After talking to the sponsor and doing research, we decided to make is lighter, more compact and cheaper (less components). Since the max speed is less than 20 mile per hour, the trike is not required a license plate and the rider doesn’t need a driver’s license based on the regulation. The potential customer would be someone who need short commute. They can ride the trike on the bike lane without being stuck in the traffic. They also could be someone who ride the trike in between company buildings for some light cargo transportation. The process includes consulting with sponsors for the budget and potential customers, designing the trike and running the simulation on Solidworks (CAD design), manufacturing for chassis, steering system, power train assembly, and top cover respectively, and testing its performance and safety.
3. A country outside US and Canada. You may choose the same country you mentioned in the previous essay.
4. Please focus more on this part since it is the core of this essay.
Please let me know if you have any question! Thank you in advance!
