Prospective Partners

Without great project partners, the Design for Extreme Affordability course would not exist. Being an Extreme project partner is a big commitment, but we hope that the benefits to our partners far exceed the costs.

Project partners develop a "wish list" of ideas for student projects, host student teams as they travel during spring break, and remain an active participant in the design and testing phases of development. We ask project partners to work with us for the duration of Winter and Spring quarters.

Partnership Timeline at a glance:

Aug-Oct // Extreme teaching team recruits partner organizations & work with them to develop project topics
Oct - Dec // Partner organizations are finalized and teaching team set-up in-person visits ~3 days
Mid Jan. // Partners join us at Stanford to introduce their projects to the class
Late Jan. // Student teams are formed & matched to a partner/ project.
Feb - March // Students & partners get to know each other, the project topic, and prepare visit
Late March // Students travel to their partners (7-14 days) to understand project & communities.
April - June // Students continue to work on their projects, with extensive partner interaction.
Early June // Private final presentations to partners followed by a public expo.
July-Aug. // Optional: Students may receive support to work on their projects after class ends.

The experience, smarts and energy of both our Extreme teams, coupled with the rigorous design process provided by the d.school, allowed for very significant leaps forward in two different areas. I really believe that the power of a Stanford/miraclefeet team will result in the development of a brace that will have significant impact on the cost and effectiveness of clubfoot treatment on a global scale. And the simple text message tool developed by the other Extreme team is practical, low cost and leverages a technology that is widely available. Both ideas will make major contributions to clubfoot treatment, which in turn will transform the lives of children around the world.

Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld Co-Founder and Executive Director, miraclefeet, Brazil

Extreme teams have the time and outside perspective to think deeply and creatively about a concept. The organizational reality for us is that we need to move fast and execute efficiently, and this creates pressure to stick with “safe” ideas. We leverage the creativity of Extreme teams to explore totally new ideas and keep us thinking outside the box.

David Klaus Proximity Designs, Myanmar