Compassion Meets Engineering Design with Dr. Tahira Reid Smith

Dr. Nathan Regier welcomes a very unique guest who shares the passion of bringing more compassion to work but not in the way you might expect. Dr. Tahira Reid Smith is an associate professor from Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. After Tahira observed the discomfort, loss of dignity, and anxiety that so many patients experience while interacting with medical devices, her heart was stirred to do something about it.  Tahira’s compassion for users of medical products and services has been a guiding force in her work as a design engineer and she is sharing in today’s episode her passion and vision to improve human lives.   Key Takeaways: [2:13] Tahira shares her personal and professional journey. [6:13] Tahira talks about an invention she made in 3rd grade. [10:36] What is it about Tahira’s approach that is unique in her field? [16:50] Tahira is unique in many aspects, how do these unique traits shaped the work that she does? [17:40] Tahira shares a personal experience that she believes was the foundation of her compassionate spirit. [20:05] Tahira talks about generational differences in her family. [20:15] Drama vs compassion. [22:33] Tahira talks about her view on Compassionate Design and what motivated her to follow this direction. [26:16] Three key areas a product must meet: To promote dignity, to remove anxiety, and to provide a sense of empowerment. [28:02] How is Compassionate Design different from other human-centered approaches? [31:33] Tahira shares examples of compassionate design. [33:20] Tahira talks about the projects she is working on at the moment. [36:05] What can we all be doing differently to change the world for the better? [39:09] Nate shares his three takeaways from a magical conversation with Tahira Reid   Mentioned in this episode: The Compassion Mindset Learn more about Reid Lab   Tweetables: “How can we encouraged people to bring their whole selves to work in order to answer the questions that we have?.” #oncompassion #compassiondesign    “Every product should meet three criteria: To promote dignity, to remove anxiety, and to provide a sense of empowerment.” #oncompassion #compassiondesign    “First, let’s make sure everybody is ok, then let’s talk about the next paper or next accomplishment.” #oncompassion #compassiondesign    “Engineers should be trained to be creative thinkers and problem solvers involved in societal matters.” #oncompassion #compassiondesign