Zoe Berg, Photo Editor

As classes return to in-person instruction this week, the Yale Center for Engineering Innovation and Design — the University’s hub for engineering resources — has bounced back to its usual daily flow. 

The CEID remained open for face-to-face operations until the end of the fall semester, but the facility was closed for the first two weeks of this term and reopened this past Monday. According to Design Fellows Veronica Chen ’22 and Audrey Ryan GRD ’21, the CEID team used the time off to plan workshops and activities for the rest of the year.

“After a long year of remote learning and programming, the CEID was very fortunate to remain open for the entire Fall ’21 semester,” Ryan and Chen wrote in an email to the News. “There is a very strong sense of community here at the CEID, so all of our members and staff respected the University guidelines to assure that the communal space could stay open in a safe way. Fortunately, no programming or classes were disrupted during the Omicron spike towards the end of last semester. While we were closed, the CEID staff used the Winter break period to prepare, restock and organize for a successful Spring semester!”

For the rest of its first week back to in-person operations, the CEID will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., per Ryan and Chen. They added that they are working with the CEID’s Design Aides, who are undergraduate staffers, to determine a shift schedule that will enable them to “move to 24/7 access swiftly.” 

This spring, the CEID will offer weekly Wednesday evening workshops for the Yale community, and it will host three design-based courses: “Musical Acoustics and Instrument Design,” “Design Process and Creative Strategies” and “Medical Device Design and Innovation.”

Tamar Geller ’23, who serves as co-chair of Yale’s student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, expressed her excitement at the CEID’s reopening. Geller is majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and is currently enrolled in the CEID-based course in medical device design.

“I am very excited to have the CEID open again both because I am taking a Medical Device Design class that meets in the CEID,” Geller wrote in an email to the News, “and because many of the Y-IEEE project teams have waited for the CEID to open so they can solder parts and finish building their projects!” 

The CEID also runs a newsletter, serving as an avenue for Yale’s engineering community to advertise internships and share information about courses. For example, the CEID’s most recent newsletter spotlighted a research position for undergraduate and graduate students at the School of Medicine, a set of virtual workshops on sustainable health and other potential opportunities in technical entrepreneurship.

“The project [with Yale School of Medicine professor Aidin Elsam Pour] involves making a 3D model of the human body (skeleton, joints and muscles) to study the motions,” the latest newsletter read. “The project team already has a model that can be used as a template to build on. This project can result in significant experience with coding and computer modeling of human motions.”

Chen and Ryan’s roles involve coordinating events, offering equipment training and supporting CEID projects. They also manage the Design Aides, who offer technical guidance to other students using CEID tools and resources. 

The two also use part of their time working with the CEID to hone their own technical skills — and to pursue their own professional interests. For Ryan, this entails interdisciplinary projects marrying technology with art.

“As a recent MFA graduate from the School of Art, I have been very excited to help current students in the School of Art with their upcoming Spring Thesis shows and critiques,” Ryan wrote. “During the time that the CEID has been closed, Veronica and I have continued filling specialty print requests and providing remote help to students that have needed it. Helping other artists has always been integral to my own practice as an artist and I really look forward to seeing all the upcoming exhibitions!”

Similar to Ryan, Chen also expressed interest in the intersection of art and technology. 

Though she has been involved with the CEID for much of her time at Yale, Chen — who graduated from Yale College in December — noted that this is her first semester as a Design Fellow.

“I was a design aide last semester, and have been taking classes at the CEID since my sophomore year, so the CEID has always felt like a familiar space,” she wrote. “I was a double major in art and mechanical engineering, and I’m passionate about making things, which is what drew me to this role. I love how the CEID embodies both engineering and design.”

Chen is hosting her first workshop next week, where she will cover the multimedia graphics software Adobe Animate.

The CEID is located at 15 Prospect St. and first opened in 2012.