Jungle-gyms and Stoves

Engineers design almost everything, including the kitchen sink.

Typically across from the kitchen sink is something that was of more interest to us - the stove. Now, if you're like me, as a small kid you stayed as far away from the stove as possible, associating it with that light-bulb that taught you the simple relationship, "hot thingy makes ouchy finger." Unfortunately, some kids learn this lesson with the more imposing object that is the stove and not a simple light bulb. Although the engineer behind the stove certainly didn't intend for his creation to be a make-shift jungle-gym, engineers had to adapt to the reality of the multi-purpose stove.

Following our discussion in class, we brainstormed ideas about how to prevent stove tipping. First, important for every problem, we received some context. Basically, kids would be unsupervised in the kitchen, climb up on the stove, the stove would tip, and the child would get badly burned by something that would spill off the top. Without researching, we came up with criteria to define a successful solution (such as not being able to hinder the operation of the stove) and a list of 10 possible solutions (such as a child-proof handle for the over door). Some solutions were more plausible than others. For example, it would be hard to imagine a stove-door that had legs that folded out when opened in order to form a mini-table. This would solve the purpose of stopping the tipping of the stove but would only add to the view of the stove as a jungle-gym.

It turns out that the solution most often implemented is a clip on the floor at the back of the stove. However (especially as this is an already solved problem), the practice of brainstorming in a team was more important that the mechanical solution. As a class, we observed that our ideas tended to fall into certain categories - methods to hold the stove down and stove door modifications.

Two big picture things to take away: One: when brainstorming, ideas can start to fall into categories. Often identifying these patterns will help you look for new groups, think of more elements in a group, or see if items from different groups could be blended for a better design. Two: don't touch hot things with your bare hands.