Top:  Dr. Kristin Wood's Product Development students learn about product function and form through a combination of traditional and project-oriented, hands-on methods.

Second:  Coffee pots, pencil sharpeners, batteries and windup toys - all part of Dr. Wood's arsenal of classroom props - have something important in common: the ability to transform stored energy into useful work.

Third:  Dr. Wood demonstrates the workings of a spring-loaded toy.

Fourth:  All eyes turn to the small gadget a student is holding.  He will be asked to explain its function, or, in Dr. Wood's words, "its purpose in life".

Bottom:  Students pair up to practice drawing each other without taking their eyes off each other's faces and without lifting pencil from paper.  Wood calls the exercise "attaching the eye to the hand".  It's a skill essential for product developers, who must be able to express their design ideas through drawings.

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Click here to visit Dr. Wood's bio page.

Photos by Gary McElhaney