People // Students
Simon Kwok
Interactive Arts + Technology, Senior Year
Undergraduate Student
One designs something expecting a certain result; however there are almost always unforeseen results. This characterizes my experience of what I've learned in SIAT. Not everything I did resulted in what I expected, but I've learned how to improvise and I have found this to be extremely valuable. Most of my learning in SIAT hasn't been from the readings and lectures, but from working with team members on the thoughtfully formulated projects that professors have assigned and the valuable criticisms they have provided.
I was in SIAT for five years, one of which I held a interaction designer co-op position at RIM (Research in Motion) in Toronto. And I spent a summer in Italy as part of the Italia Design Field School research team. I highly recommend doing your degree in SIAT, and doing the cooperative education program to gain work experience. For those interested in design, the Italia Design Field school is a eye-opening life changing experience. Currently I am working with Team North, a collaboration between SIAT at Simon Fraser University, Ryerson University and the University of Waterloo to deliver a solar powered house for the US Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition next year.