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Prof. David R Wallace
Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) Professor of Mechanical Engineering
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Class of 1960 Innovation in Education Fellow
Primary DLC
Department of Mechanical Engineering
MIT Room:
3-435
(617) 253-2655
drwallac@mit.edu
https://meche.mit.edu/people/faculty/DRWALLAC@MIT.EDU
Assistant
Chevalley Duhart
(617) 253-3979
cduhart@mit.edu
Areas of Interest and Expertise
Environmentally Conscious Design
Computer-Aided Industrial Design
New-Media Design Education
Research Summary
David Wallace has long been a recognized leader in design research and education at MIT and around the world. Wallace began his research career focused on computational tools for design representation and has evolved his interests over time to environmentally-conscious design approaches, developing software tools to enhance design and creativity, and incorporating new media and tools into the design classroom to empower engineers and designers. His research goals are to develop new methods that impact upon the practice of product development and to help inspire and equip the next generation of engineering innovators.
Wallace is known both inside and outside of MIT for his development of two iconic design classes at MIT, 2.009 (Product Engineering Processes), and 2.00B (Toy Product Design). In sculpting and refining 2.009 over many years, Wallace merged a studio-based approach with rigorous engineering to create a new paradigm for team-based, project-based design. In these courses, students experience hands-on building and testing in real world contexts so they experience what it means to design for real users, not just design in theory.
His approach to design education is captured in the video series “Play Seriously!” which follows one semester of 2.009. For his tremendous educational contributions, he has been awarded the Baker Award for Teaching Excellence and was named a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, which is MIT’s highest teaching award.
Recent Work
Projects
August 27, 2015
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Avocado Oil Extraction in Tanzania
Principal Investigator
David Wallace
December 12, 2007
Department of Mechanical Engineering
MIT Toy Lab: Toy Product Design
Principal Investigator
David Wallace
January 10, 2007
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Design, Manufacturing, and Product Development
Principal Investigator
David Wallace
Related Faculty
Xiaoyu Chen
Postdoctoral Associate
Kevin P Simon
Research Affiliate
Prof. Carlos M Portela
Robert N Noyce Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering