Sustainability is a key component to maintaining our ecology, making it possible for a substantial population growth. It’s so broad, where do we start? Why should we care? We live in a beautiful world, but our statistics say otherwise. We are so dependent upon our Earth but we fail to nurture it even though it gives us so much. We need to start exercising our freedom of choice and make the right decision to not use styrofoam. If we use styrofoam we need to make an effort to clean this product and research through Google how we can recycle this product. Styrofoam is 100% non biodegradable, it takes 500 years to begin decomposing, and it usually ends up in landfills. I recently learned that it is possible to recycle this product into packaging materials and even SURF BOARDS! Styrofoam is one of the most innovative products man has invented. It can save lives, make living and working conditions comfortable by insulating. Please make the effort to practice abstinence with this product or save and reuse packaging peanuts or contact www.earth911.com to find a recycling center near you! Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy my effort to spread the good news. -tw

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Tonight in New York City at the School of Visual Arts in Debbie Millman’s Differentiate or Die class something amazing happened. I have been preparing a presentation for two weeks now. The subject is about a person who you admire in the creative world. If you read my earlier posting, then its no news to you that I am presenting a speech on Ravi Sawhney the founder and CEO of RKS Design.

Right as I was about to give my speech which would have started out as “grounded, sensitive, inventive” I had totally made a huge mistake and it went something like “so…wait oh no time out, can we rewind” and Leyanne stopped the video and we started from the top. It was in that moment that it hit me, that one crazy week in October 2008. Once I remembered that week my speech took a flash back and it went something like this. Clears throat,

“There was one week that I will never forget. It was the week my grandfather passed away. That was also the same week I had to fly to New York City and show my portfolio to the School of Visual Arts. I’ll never forget that week because of the way I was treated, no one would cover my shift and I had given the entire staff 3 months to figure out who would cover my shift and on top of that my grandfather had died that week and they still had me working even while I was falling apart crying helplessly day in and day out until I had to physically fly off to New York. The person I’m going to talk about is someone who is a fabulous industrial designer and also a great team leader. Ravi Sawhney is the creative who I admire not just for producing innovative products such as the salad dryer that has the same working centrifugal force like the blood chemist machine but he also treats everyone at RKS like a family. When they lost a former designer to leukemia he made sure everyone at work including himself was able to attend her funeral. He supersedes the basic work ethics and for that I am grateful. I hope I can continue working at RKS with people who can make a difference in design and in your life. Thank you”

This speech was followed by me rushing to my seat and professor Debbie Millman asked me what I thought of my speech. I said I was a nervous wreck. She said “nervous, yes, wreck, no.” I was relieved to hear this, but then suddenly overwhelmed with tears. It was at that moment all the horrible feelings came back to me. Debbie asked me to explain what happened and it suddenly all made sense to me why I feel so privileged and connected to Ravi and the team. It’s because I am treated like family there. They supported me even for a an event like the Burning Man… This I can say was one of the most incredible feelings, to remember something horrible from the past and realize that that’s a part of why you love and appreciate something so much. Thank you for giving me a hard week and a bad experience seeing your true colors because now I see clearly how much I have to be grateful for. Thank you for treating me like a human RKS.

This is my last semester at SVA and I am taking Debbie Millman’s Differentiate or Die class on How to Get a Job. Our assignment this week is to make a speech about someone who you admire. I chose Ravi Sawhney, just read and you’ll know why.

Ravi Sawhney is the CEO and founder of RKS Design, he holds an honary Ph.D from the Academy of Arts and has taught his philosophy of Psycho Aesthetics to students at Harvard University and University of Southern California. Recently, last September RKS Design was one of the three nominees in the Industrial Design category at the National Design Awards held at the White House and hosted by the first lady Michelle Obama. I highly respect Ravi for all the thought and care that goes into each project. I am inspired by his unconditional love and support for each individual on the team. My internship experience at RKS was very different, for one everyone there works as a team and second it is a dog friendly environment. Everyone at RKS supported my scholarship to Burning Man and bid me off with a memorable sunny farewell pool party at his house in Malibu. Ravi then gifted me with an iPad 2 and I also received one of the most heart felt cards from the whole team that brought tears to my eyes. I am profoundly touched by his kindness and his ability to produce innovative products as well as a fine creative atmosphere. The office is almost disguised as a functional, high-end cafe gallery. The three dimensional modeling studio houses several Hass machines made to cut different metals, and materials such as ren shape and wood. Above the workshop is the photo studio with some of the best equipment I’ve ever seen. One of the major projects we worked on was the first ever smart phone for blind people that Google Android requested. The team at RKS is more like a family than anything else and this was proven to me when we unfortunately suffered the loss of a former Designer to Lukemia and everyone attended her funeral. I am grateful to work with someone as highly skilled and kind hearted as Ravi and I hope to continue working at RKS Design so I can make a difference in the world.