When 3D-printing enthusiast Winfred signed up for extracurriculars, he had no idea he was about to face a design challenge unlike any he’d encountered before. Tasked with populating a virtual reality landscape for the Oracle Industry Innovation Lab, he turned his physical design skills to the digital world. This is the story of Winfred’s Oracle internship.
A passion for problem solving
What does a sophomore design student from the Bay Area, California, do outside of high school?
“I do a bit of CAD in my free time as a hobby,” Winfred begins. “I make 3D-printed things in the real world.” Examples are within reach of his desk: A sticky-note holder, a computer case, a phone stand, and a collection of other handy creations. They all have something in common–each one has a purpose. Clearly, Winfred has a passion for problem solving.
As friends started signing up for extracurricular activities, Winfred was eager to add to his transcript too. When a family friend mentioned the Design Thinking classes, run as part of Design Tech High School’s yearlong Innovation Certificate Program, Winfred saw a fresh outlet for his creative energy. He recalls, “I had already joined the Rocketry Club, where you build model rockets, so it sounded kind of cool.” He put his name down.
Taking on new challenges
Building on Winfred’s talent for creating solutions, the Design Thinking classes were about employing a user-centered, empathetic methodology for problem solving. When the program ended, the instructor mentioned summer internships supported by the Oracle Education Foundation. Spotting another creative opportunity, Winfred applied.
That’s how he landed a four-week placement with Oracle’s Industry Innovation Lab, where he’d be working with world-class technology experts, behavioral scientists, and energy and water industry veterans. The team had the perfect task for Winfred to get started on. His CAD skills could enhance one of the lab’s premier projects. However, the assignment would be unlike anything Winfred had worked on before.
Bridging the physical and digital worlds
Winfred was shown a virtual reality town. The digital landscape was populated with houses, roads, overhead cables, solar panels, electric vehicle chargers, and more. It’s called the Connected Hub and it’s linked to Oracle’s software solutions for utilities.
The VR town is used to simulate real-world events like power outages, spikes in home energy use, or extreme weather. It demonstrates how Oracle’s solutions operate in each scenario.
Much thought had been put into how the Connected Hub worked. However, less attention had been given to how the landscape looked. Winfred’s job? To make the place more appealing to visitors.
“I’ve been working on how to make the map look better,” he explains. “I looked at the old map. It looked like a ghost town. My job was to make the Connected Hub look a lot more lively.”
For 20 hours a week, Winfred set to work.
Turning a vision into (virtual) reality
One of the first things Winfred noticed was the lack of trees. Adding greenery was top of his list. However, Winfred’s imagination was full of other ideas to make the landscape more lifelike.
“I wanted to add sidewalks. I added a little red line to act like a fire lane,” he describes. “I wanted to make lamps, not solely because of the lighting, but for more realism. Because, in the suburbs, you have lamps everywhere.”
In addition to adding these entirely new features, Winfred spotted some subtle changes that would make instant improvements. “There was a big issue with the lighting. It was really bright,” he says. “I changed the intensity of the light, so it wasn’t just always shining.”
Winfred had a vision of including cliffs, lakes, even a dam. However, some of his ideas would have to wait for another day. After all, he was having to get to grips with some unfamiliar design software along the way.
You win or you learn
“I use Fusion 360 for CAD. I thought the transition to Unity and Blender would be easy,” Winfred reflects. “It wasn’t easy.”
Fusion 360 is typically used for manufacturing and engineering design, while Unity and Blender are used for designing computer graphics. Using new programs led Winfred to change his approach.
“Going from Fusion 360 to Blender was weird,” Winfred notes. “I expected it to be a bit more precise, but it’s a bit more go with the flow. Instead of measuring the exact length, you extrude it however you want.”
Winfred started with a single tree. His first attempt took longer than he expected and he thought it could look better. He kept trying. Soon, he was achieving smoother results at a higher speed. “Blender work took a lot of time, but was a lot of fun,” he comments. “I was getting faster and faster at it.”
That’s how Winfred learned a valuable lesson about innovation: “You fail your way to success–I’ve heard that quote before,” he muses. Luckily, he could turn to members of the lab team for help too.
A head-start in the world of work
Having a mentor on hand for guidance, while also having the freedom to experiment, worked well for Winfred. “Honestly, it’s pretty nice,” he says. “It’s loose, which I like a lot. Everyone is just sort of there to support you.”
In fact, he found the workplace much more welcoming than he predicted. “Everyone’s just kind of nice. I didn’t really expect that,” he shares. “I thought they’d be more firm or strict, but they’ve been really cool, really chill.”
During his internship, Winfred has learned things others only discover when they start their careers. He concludes, “It’s shown me how the world of work environment really is and how to communicate with people. A lot of people don’t have that until they’re really working.”
Embracing the future
After Winfred’s four-week placement, he chose to continue his internship further into the summer. He’s used the time to experiment with generative AI. He’s using this technology to automate tasks and explore the workstyles of the future.
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