As a programmer for the Action xDesign team under the Engineering Inclusivity, Diversity, and Equity Advancement (E-IDEA), I had the opportunity to work with a group of young and curious minds at the Kahnawà:ke Youth Center (KYC) and Beurling Academy (BA). My role was to schedule, plan and facilitate experiential, project-based, and youth-centered interdisciplinary workshops that aimed to engage youth in the engineering design cycle approach, i.e., A xD cycle. The Action xDesign cycle is the program’s foundation, which helps students learn to think critically, collaborate with others, and solve real-world problems.
The workshops that I organized provided students with an opportunity to explore various themes that mattered to them. Seeing young minds come together, brainstorm, and develop creative solutions to solve complex problems was inspiring. Through these workshops, I taught the students how to implement design thinking into their processes, projects, and studies. They learned to empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test their ideas, which helped them build a strong foundation in design thinking.
I felt privileged to be part of E-IDEA's Action xDesign program. It allowed me to support the young generation in creating positive change in their local communities. It was incredible to see how the program enabled students to be active agents of change, driving community-based projects to address issues such as sustainability, diversity, and inclusion.
Odira Maureen Ofordueme (Nigeria)
Mastercard Foundation Scholar Alumna, M.Eng. Electrical Engineering
