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Engineering tasks may not be easy, but according to Maxwell Smith’s experience, they are usually clear. For example, last year, his task was to design a robot that could transport a box of food from one place to another.

This year, some of his classmates are building a sound monitor. Others must build a drone that can fly in the air and be submerged in water. However, Smith, a senior at the University of Denver, is facing a more abstract and historically difficult challenge.

He must design things that cats will like.

"For engineers, this is an eye-opener," Smith said. "This is different from any other course I have taken at Tulane University, and I think it is also different from a typical university engineering course."

This product (and its notoriously critical target audience) is part of Smith's Advanced Design Project and is the cornerstone of the course at the University of Denver's Ridge School of Engineering and Computer Science. Before earning the diploma, every engineering student—whether they majored in electrical, mechanical, or computer—will work with a few classmates to solve a specific customer problem, usually for an existing company.

"This is one of the reasons Du is different from other engineering schools," said Graham Parkinson, a visiting assistant professor who advised the Smith team. "Earlier we exposed students to the interdisciplinary nature of engineering. Instead of starting their careers and then having to figure out, they are now gaining this experience."

Parkinson said that in three-quarters of the process, students become teachers. Each team is self-directed and becomes an expert on their specific project. Parkinson believes this experience is a stepping stone into the professional world. Each student has grown academically, personally and professionally, and understands what it means to work in a consumer-oriented industry.

As their pinnacle, Smith and other peers Aubreigh Zorgdrager, Will Nafziger and Nick Kearns will try to research, prototype and develop cat toys for KONG Co.. The partnership with the Colorado company came from Michael Caston looking for collaborators who can provide college students with an achievable project and benefit from the results.

"This is an opportunity for students to learn about non-disclosure agreements, non-competition agreements, contracts, interdisciplinary collaborations, build their investment portfolios, verify their skills and verify their time," said Caston, professor of practice and executive director of Ridge College Innovative floor. "It's really exciting to come together in a way that is good for everyone."

Over the years, Caston shook hands with many companies eager to provide students with innovative practical experience. But when KONG suggested adding market research to the project, Caston turned to his colleague on campus, Melissa Akaka, an associate professor at the Daniels School of Business.

Over the years, Akaka and Caston have been collaborating to paint a more complete picture of the iterative process for students. As a guest lecturer on the Akaka course, Caston introduced prototyping to business students. Akaka gave back to him and talked to the engineers about understanding their customers.

"I like to raise and raise people's awareness of the importance and impact of consumer research," said Akaka, who is also the co-head of the Center for Consumer Insights and Business Innovation (CiBiC). "Many times, we will find that managers of all types of organizations make decisions based on their assumptions. They will not take an empirical, data-driven approach to thinking about other people's views on it or the competition."

KONG wanted to investigate the market and discover fashion trends, which made Taylor Osicek appear on the table. In the fall quarter, Osicek, a graduate student in marketing programs, has been conducting research to help the company better understand the competitive landscape of pet owners and pet products. She spends time browsing the websites of KONG's competitors, analyzing different toys and understanding how they fit with market trends.

"There is indeed a constant shift from pet owners to pet parents," she said. "Analyzing cultural changes and creating potential product changes for KONG is very cool, which will also have a positive impact on their financial performance."

This project enabled Osicek to combine education and work experience, adding real-world applicability to her marketing degree.

CiBiC has long been a bridge between the DU campus and the business world, said Ali Besharat, co-director of the center and associate professor of Daniels. It advises on internal projects, from the campus shuttle to the new James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus. Equally important, it allows students to improve their skills and discover their enthusiasm through projects with different clients (including KONG).

"That's why I think this applies to students' 4D experience," Besharat said, referring to a DU program centered on promoting intellectual development, exploring character, promoting happiness, and pursuing purposeful careers and lives. "This is definitely beyond the classroom experience. This is what they can experience in the real world: how they interact with the company, how you provide meaningful discoveries, and make an impact on the business community."

KONG's product manager Annette Dennison (Annette Dennison) felt the impact first-hand. She said that Du's business and engineering students brought fresh vision and interesting energy.

"They are not involved in this industry, they don't really understand our customer base, they don't have any perspective. They just look at it from a very pure perspective," she said. "They are very enthusiastic, which is great. It is full of energy."

Osicek's market research is providing information for Smith and his classmates to make preliminary designs for cat toys.

"I think it's really eye-opening to see in-depth technical work related to marketing research," Smith said. At the same time, the team is conducting its own research to disassemble other cat toys to understand their functions.

By spring, they hope to turn countless ideas and notebook sketches into products that can be built, tested, and finally delivered to KONG. They will present their ideas to the DU community on open days and fairs at the end of the school year.

KONG may or may not bring this idea to the market, but in any case, Smith and Osicek said that this project taught them a lot about the relationships, deadlines, and needs of the business world.

“It’s really meaningful to help a local company. Despite its dominant position in the toy field, it’s not able to get some of the research resources we provide at CiBiC,” Osicek said. "It's really meaningful to be able to sort out, synthesize these data and help them grow."

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