Wes Meir studied mechanical engineering at Iowa State University. In his junior year, he took a course with an international focus. He and his fellow students were challenged with creating a laptop that would work in Western Africa. To figure out the design criteria, Wes typed “What is West Africa like?” into Google.

In his senior year, he signed up for a second international design course. This time, he was assigned the role of designing a water valve. Unlike his junior year, he traveled to Mali where he spent several months on the ground learning about the specific needs of the local community. His first valve designs worked technically, but they did not fit the specific needs of the local community. “That’s where I learned, human-centered design is the most important component of the design process,” Wes says. “If you’re going to design for the long term, you have to design with [customers].”

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