Browsing by Author "Carleton University"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 42
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    3D-printed prosthesis to support female survivors of domestic violence, accidents or cancer treatment in Brazil
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in Steam (GDS)
    During development before birth and throughout life, the human body can be mutilated or amputated due to a variety of causes. This study investigates how 3D printing as an innovative technology can be utilized for prostheses production for women with visible disabilities caused by domestic violence, accidents, medical conditions, or cancer treatment. 3D printing offers a more sustainable alternative when compared to traditional prosthetics as it allows for higher levels of customization at lower production costs. This project used Design Science Research (DSR), which incorporates theory, artifact development, creativity, and innovation as a methodological approach. This project investigates the impacts of 3D printing technology on gendered design prosthesis to rehabilitate identity, confidence and independence of women in low- and middle-income countries.
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    Assessing the impact of solar panels to improve energy access for women in rural Ghana
    (2023) Gendered Design in STEAM (GDS); Carleton University
    The government of Ghana aims to provide energy access to communities with populations of 500 and above, but isolated communities (rural or island) have no access to electricity. This case study explored the factors enhancing women’s empowerment through energy access and investigated productive uses of energy in informal food preparation and processing sectors owned by women and vulnerable populations. The project assessed the impact on energy access, gender, and the political economy of the energy sector in these communities and explored how to enhance the role of the private sector in scaling up energy access for all.
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    Case study of clothing design considerations of low-income, menopausal women in Brazil
    (2023) Gendered Design in STEAM (GDS); Carleton University
    As in many societies, in Brazil, middle-aged and low-income women are subject to marginalization caused by social and gender inequality. This reality underlies the construction of negative stereotypes associated with the devaluation of aging female bodies and beauty. Clothing contributes to the perception of belonging and acceptance in the social environment. When the issues of aging, gender, and economic vulnerability are present, these judgments can further feed the construction of depreciating stereotypes of women. Recognizing the particularities of these women and their demands is essential for the development of clothing products that can contribute to self-esteem and social belonging, democratizing the actions and design solutions. Thus, this investigation had as a main objective: to understand how middle-aged and low-income women perceived the biopsychosocial factors of aging, and how they influence the factors of usability and social representation through the bias of gender construction.
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    Desarrollar estrategias de diseño urbano para combatir violencia de género en México
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in Steam (GDS)
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    Design and construction of gender and eco-friendly fuel-less generator for female artisans in Nigeria
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in Steam (GDS)
    African civilization has traditionally been patriarchal, and this male-centered inclination permeates all facets of daily life, including the way we think about product design. Most of the user’s centered design framework is very generic and lacks the inclusiveness that is expected to address specific related design issues. Gender-centered design, a particular user-centered design paradigm, has recently risen to the forefront of product thinking. This idea ensures that men and women receive the same benefits from policies and programs while preventing the continuation of inequality. The study used a descriptive and inferential statistical analysis for the questionnaire, and it used the House of Quality (HoQ) tool to map the engineering qualities with the Voice of Customer (VoC) that was retrieved from the participant’s recorded utterance. The HoQ was later used to explore the design of a fuel-less generator prototype.
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    Designing for support against workplace harassment for low income women in Pakistan
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in Steam (GDS)
    The project aims to understand the potential of technology to provide women in Pakistan equitable access to employment opportunities and safe spaces for their narratives of workplace violence and harassment. The research team conducted a qualitative study of female factory workers in regions of Lahore and Faisalabad districts to understand their experiences of harassment and marginalization. Design methods were used to explore ways in which to support addressing their negative experience of harassment and abuse while allowing them to navigate patriarchal barriers to work.
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    Designing mobile services for ageing women in Malaysia
    (2023) Gendered Design in STEAM (GDS); Carleton University
    Malaysia reached its demographic trajectory to become an aging society in 2020, and the aged population remains low in adopting mobile technologies. To improve the participation of this user group and align them with technological development, this project aims to explore mobile usage behaviour, and expenditure on telecommunication among female elderly in Malaysia and propose a framework to better design mobile services for them. To achieve this objective, the research team conducted quantitative studies and a qualitative study involving female elderly participants to explore their use of mobile services through the lens of intersectionality.
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    Developing a hybrid fish dryer to improve processing for small-scale female processors in Lagos, Nigeria
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in STEAM (GDS)
    In Lagos State, Nigeria, fish processing is a female-centric occupation dominated by traditional smoke-drying technologies that exhibit occupational hazards and fuel inefficiencies. Among fish processors in the small-scale fisheries sector, there has been limited success to introduce home grown technologies for adoption. Campaigns against the use of firewood and switching to charcoal have not been successful. Barriers to the adoption of improved fish smoking practices and sustainable energy use are influenced by cultural biases, socio-economic and psychological factors. Additionally, the energy crisis has added another barrier to the adoption of charcoal due to increasing costs. Based on the identified challenges, this project adopted a transdisciplinary approach conducting surveys and training workshops with fish processors, fishermen and other stakeholders to design a modernized fish dryer prototype and to evaluate the adoption of alternative biomass sources for fuel.
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    Developing innovative urban design strategies to combat gender violence in Mexico
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in Steam (GDS)
    This project developed seminars with professors, undergraduate, and graduate students from a variety of disciplines in order to come up with innovative design approaches to the issue of gendered violence in Ciudad Juárez. The participants studied the literature on gendered violence in the city and created proposals for designs with gendered violence as the central focus, which included plans for bus stops, experiments in the use of storytelling in design research, and infographics on sexist attitudes among the design students at the university.
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    Developing small wind turbines with local women for domestic use in Mauritius
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in Steam (GDS)
    The energy transition to renewable sources, along with energy efficiency and management, are areas where women should be engaged actively. This research project aims to design and develop a prototype in the form of a computational model for a system using a vertical-axis wind turbine which can later be scaled-up for domestic use in Mauritius and other small islands. The key research question is to determine how the integration of Gendered Design in the context of small-island economies, with the case of Mauritius in particular, can be achieved using numerical simulations and optimization techniques for the latter application. As such, the efficiency and performance of a small-scale Savonius vertical-axis wind turbine under various wind speeds typical of the Mauritian environment has been numerically investigated.
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    Exploring urban care infrastructures to support women’s autonomy in Argentina
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in Steam (GDS)
    This research addresses the issue of care work as mostly assumed by women and focuses on the unequal distribution of care services and infrastructures in fragmented cities. This project is located in the city of Córdoba, in the underserved neighbourhoods of Marechal, Villa Páez and Alberdi. The project utilized quantitative and qualitative mapping to understand gendered urban experiences related to care, and how these are omitted in current urban planning discourses.
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    Les femmes dans l’exploitation minière artisanale et à petite échelle en Afrique centrale et de l’est : l’autonomisation - un aperçu des défis et des possibilités
    (2017)
    Les femmes sont un rouage essentiel de l’exploitation minière artisanale; elles interviennent dans le lavage, le broyage et le tamisage ainsi que dans le commerce des biens et services. Elles dépendent des revenus procurés par cette économie minière informelle pour soutenir leurs ménages et autres personnes à leur charge. Pourtant, au niveau le plus fondamental, on fait souvent fi de la participation diverse et active des femmes dans le secteur artisanal ainsi que de la dimension sexospécifique de l’exploitation minière artisanale. Une équipe de chercheuses et de chercheurs se penche sur les moyens de subsistance des femmes dans l’exploitation minière artisanale et à petite échelle des 3T (étain, tantale, tungstène) et de l’or en République démocratique du Congo, au Rwanda et en Ouganda. L’étude se penche sur la dynamique dans deux sites miniers et dans leurs environs, dans chacun des pays afin de révéler comment les inégalités entre les sexes limitent les contributions et les possibilités des femmes à titre d’actrices économiques et politiques dans le secteur minier artisanal.
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    From tobacco to food production : assessing constraints and transition strategies in Bangladesh; final technical report
    (UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative), Dhaka, BD, 2008-08) UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative); Carleton University
    This project developed a better understanding of the constraints farmers face, and new directions for helping them to shift out of tobacco into socially and economically sustainable and ecological forms of agriculture, following Nayakrishi Andolon (New Agriculture Movement) biodiversity-based farming practices. By the end of the project, more than 350 participating farmers had made a permanent shift out of tobacco production, and local capacities were established to support ongoing experimentation with new cropping systems. In addition, the project helped raise awareness among government departments and non-governmental organizations of policy-relevant findings from the research.
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    From tobacco to food production : assessing constraints and transition strategies in Bangladesh; scientific reports, 2006 - 2008
    (UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative), Dhaka, BD, 2008-08) UBINIG (Policy Research for Development Alternative); Carleton University
    Field visits were made to farming communities where comprehensive profiles of natural resources, and crops raised for livelihoods were documented. With the introduction of tobacco production, biodiversity was drastically reduced due to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides. But the situation has changed recently due to adoption of Nayakrishi (organic farming) principles; especially for those farmers abandoning tobacco cultivation and adopting food crops production. Accompanied by the shift from tobacco to food crops, trends in favor of restoration of biological diversity have been initiated. Detailed recommendations are made in support of these changes.
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    Gendered commutes in Ankara : women’s experiences, strategies and implications for the design of public transit
    (2023) Gendered Design in STEAM (GDS); Carleton University
    The aim of the project is to answer the question of how and to what extent the gender-related problems experienced by women in public transportation in Ankara can be tackled as a design problem. This research first interviewed women then the data collected was incorporated into design ideas by four professional industrial designers through a series of design intervention activities.
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    Gendered design in STEAM
    (2023) Gendered Design in STEAM (GDS); Carleton University
    From April 2019 to October 2022, the GDS Program has been investigating and advancing gendered design through 20 grant-awarded projects with scholars at institutions across the global souths. The Program aimed to contribute to more inclusive technological designs in science, technology, engineering, the arts and math by building capacity in gendered design and innovations to address challenges and biased perceptions predominantly faced by women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The gendered design approach brings diverse and critical perspectives to the design process to reshape how we identify design challenges, the process to address them, the solutions to these challenges, as well as the reach of their benefits.
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    Gendered design in STEAM (GDS) - YouTube
    (2023) Carleton University; Gendered Design in STEAM (GDS)