Segue 2.0: Design Thinking for a Sustainable Future

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” - decades of experimentation upon the established education system have brought us to where we stand today- thousands of colleges across the nation striving to do better, create better and teach better. Among the lot, doing exceptionally well, ever since its establishment, is the Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology or NIET. The first ever private institute in the state of Uttar-Pradesh to achieve autonomous status, NIET is accredited by NBA, NAAC and NIRF and affiliated to AKTU.

 

Besides the brilliant academic management, NIET hosts the disciplined club culture to sustain the creativity and overall growth of its students. With a total of 12 cultural clubs, NIET has been managing one after another events providing the students with a platform to express themselves. After the immense success of one such contest- Segue, a design thinking event, the college is organizing Segue 2.0 this year. In Collaboration with the School of Future Skills, NIET is all set to host the Global Design Thinking event- Segue 2.0 this fall from the month of September to October.

 

Information feeds Intellect, does it not? Before moving to the nuances of the Event, let’s discuss what the foundation of the event, Design Thinking, entails. “Design Thinking is a mindset and approach to problem-solving and innovation anchored around human-centered design.” - solving a problem and solving it correctly are two different things. Design thinking is a novel approach in terms of how to approach a problem and solve it with the stakeholders in mind. Consisting of a total of five steps ranging from empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping to testing; design thinking works upon the basic idea of improving the user experience. Industries all around the globe are gradually shifting their approach to obstacles through the design thinking standards instead of traditional methods.

 

The School of future skills in collaboration with NIET, Greater Noida is hosting Segue 2.0 this month. The brilliance of talent shines best under the brightest of lights, I believe. This opportunity is a blessing for the creative minds with empathetic hearts willing to solve real world problems in ways that truly help and matter to the marginalized sections of the societies. To promote the collaborative yet competitive spirit, enthusiastic participants can participate in the event with a range of 2-6 members for a total sum of 500 rupees only. The last date to register for the event is September 16,2023. Raising the stakes higher this year, the college administration in assent with the school of future skills has raised the prize pool to a total of 6 lakhs.

 

Participation to the event has been rather simplified for all the students willing to test their abilities. As stated the team having a total of 2-6 members  and a team leader will register themselves under a specific theme to converge their possible problem statements. The theme will be chosen from the total 17 Sustainable Development Goals stated by the UN. The teams will have till 20th September to submit their proposal for the problem they've chosen. The proposal will supposedly incident the documentation of the problem and its possible solutions upto the steps of Ideation. Once the evaluation finishes if the selected teams will participate in the final event set to be conducted on 13-14th October.

 

The event revolves around the idea of problem solving through design thinking and the problems will be picked from the pool of real world issues the nation's around the globe are tackling everyday to do better for the people. We all experience, some if not most, issues regarding gender or race inequality, wealth inequality, hunger, unequal and unfair access to basic healthcare and clean water. Our world with its cluster of nations is battling too much at once. People are battling too much at once and therefore, the solutions to such issues cannot be created merely on traditional methods. Impossibility blends in the mere thought of improvement if people aren't the part of the solution to provide constant feedback. That's where the necessity of thinking smartly comes to play; what better way to introduce the next generation to such ways than a creatively collaborative environment!

 

Incentives trick the human psyche, don't they? It sure helps to know your efforts will be rewarded at the end of the journey- as you walk the path. Conclusively, Segue 2.0 has  a prize pool of 6 lakhs and a total of three prizes. The 'Innovative award' would be given to the most outstandingly creative solution to a clearly defined problem. 'Impactful Award' will be designated to the solution supposedly with the possibility of the most impactful and long lasting effect on the society. And lastly, 'Inclusivity award' will be given to the team with the most diversified and inclusive  solution. Keeping in mind all the perks of this competition, all the students around the globe, from here to wherever, are invited to participate and compete! 

Participants are required to register their teams through the official website: https://www.schooloffutureskills.com/segue-2-0/

- An Article by [Shrutika Tiwari]