VCU da Vinci Center for Innovation in Product Design and Development Presents da Vinci Day 2009

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The Virginia Commonwealth University da Vinci Center for Innovation in Product Design and Development presents da Vinci Day 2009, celebrating the collaboration of the arts, business and engineering. 

The event will include a presentation of a da Vinci Center project and a lecture from noted da Vinci scholar Bülent Atalay, Ph.D.

The event will be on Wednesday, April 15, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the VCU Student Commons, Richmond Salon, 907 Floyd Ave., and is free and open to the public.

Lecture topics include “Operation Simple: Designing a $500 Surgical Table for Developing Countries,” presented by a VCU da Vinci team of engineering, art, and business students, and keynote lecture, “Leonardo and the Unity of Art and Science,” by Atalay, professor of physics at the University of Mary Washington.

The students on the Operation Simple project looked to the challenging health care needs in Bangladesh for inspiration in the mechanical and engineering development and business modeling involved in developing a surgical table that can be designed and shipped to developing countries for $500 – less than 3 percent of the price to manufacture surgical tables in the United States.

In his discussion “Leonardo and the Unity of Art and Science,” Atalay, explores da Vinci’s intriguing relationship with art and science. His most recent book, Leonardo’s Universe, co-authored with friend and former student, Keith Wamsley, was released in January of 2009 by National Geographic Books. Atalay will sign books following his lecture.

The da Vinci Center for Innovation in Product Design and Development at VCU provides a framework for teaching and practicing the science and art of product development. It brings together the disciplines of engineering, business and design to engage the creative, the technical and the commercial elements that make up successful product development. Students participating in the da Vinci Center for Innovation and Product Design and Development are working together to develop innovative approaches to addressing 21st century industrial challenges.