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Building a Portfolio:What it is. Why have one. How it is done.MIT Ideation Lab / September 17th, 2015
What?
visual representation of your work, complementing your resume
a physical book?not necessarily
could be a pdf, a website, etc.consider your audience
Why?
required for your new job or school
efficient
example of your own design work
How?
don’t worry about making the actual portfolio now, but...
...start documenting now!
incremental preparation for the future (might be too stressed later)
sketches
CAD
prototypes
goals storyboards diagrams
analysis product specs testing
design notebook!
Things to collect:
Documentation
Framework
Audience
Layout
Medium
collection of the materials from your experiences
who sees the portfolio
arrangement of elements in space
website, pdf, print?
Contentrefinement of the raw documentation
Content
Mindmaplooking at all you’ve done
Content
Developing textwriting about your experiences
Lindy Liggettis a Mechanical Engineer at Euro-Pro after doing graduate research at MIT.
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCEPrint
• Easier to start
• Compelling, helpful for interviews
• Static content, will not update
• Can be expensive
Online
• Harder to start
• Easier to share
• Dynamic and Interactive content
• Less expensive
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
SHOW, DON’T TELL“I used sketching and sketch modeling to share ideas”
SHOW, DON’T TELL
SHOW, DON’T TELLSHOW, DON’T TELLSHOW, DON”T TELLSHOW, DON’T TELL
DON’T REINVENT THE WHEELKeep it simple
DON’T REINVENT THE WHEEL
www.jeffmekler.com
DON’T REINVENT THE WHEELUse templates!
Use 2.009 TA Photos!
Use someone else’s code!
QUESTIONS?
Daniel Braunsteinis a Senior Lecturer at MIT after working as Director of Engineering at Continuum.
Know thy audience
Connect with the real hiring people
Understand it is a steady rain
Be honest about where you see yourself
Portfolios tell stories about you, your processes
Don't underestimate people's unwillingness to read
Real experience is huge
Multimedia and on-line is a great addition
Know thy audience
Who You Are
You are proficient to expert with 3D CAD tools (SolidWorks preferred).
You have at least a BSME with 3-10 years of experience.
You are curious and build knowledge in new technologies, industries and business models deeply and quickly. An
advanced degree or specialized industry experience (e.g. manufacturing, materials, medical, Consumer Packaged Goods)
is a plus.
You learn and adapt with creativity. You are energetic and passionate about solving problems and may even lead others
to innovate.
You are passionate about the big picture and are thorough about the details. Being hands on, you love getting your
hands dirty and being shoulder to shoulder on the front lines of a project. You know how to design and build for context
and may even be able to guide a team to design for system wide constraints.
You know how to verify that you’ve produced real results and may even be able to orchestrate a team to achieve real
results.
You nurture your network. You communicate with impact and influence others positively. You communicate effectively,
play nicely with others, and your attitude is mostly in-check. You relate well with people and build partnerships. You’re
able to provide feedback that helps develop your associates.
What?
Recap
Why?
How?
visual representation of your work
better communicate your work
start documenting now!
Go Build a Portfolio!MIT Ideation Lab / September 17th, 2015
Geoff Tsai / [email protected] Lindy Liggett / [email protected] Daniel Braunstein / [email protected]