Design Engineering
Showcase 2020

Throughout the course of my placement I was able to work on a variety of projects, each project allowing me to apply the lessons Design Engineering had taught me. The projects varied from UI design and advertisement to code development and even organisation foundation. However, the project which best encapsulated all these different fields was the carbon footprint calculator I proposed Creol offer their customers so individuals could better understand their impact on the planet. I was fortunate enough to be given complete control over this project; researching, designing, building and testing a robust carbon footprint calculator from scratch in just one month. Upon launch of the calculator, the number of Creol Offsets subscriptions doubled. Based on the success of this individual calculator, I was then asked to develop a second one for businesses.

My main responsibilities throughout my placement involved writing smart contracts, the back-end code necessary for Creol to operate on the blockchain, and building front-end components using React. During this time, I saw my programming quality dramatically increase and the exposure to professional development practices has been invaluable.

Remote working for the duration of this placement was challenging at times but I was able to maintain constant communication with the other Creol employees and in this time was able to help Creol set up a decentralised non-government organisation with two other companies, aiming to change the carbon credit supply chain.

Given the size of Creol I had the opportunity to contribute to a range of projects during my placement. Kris (CEO) handled the design side whilst Joshua (CTO) oversaw the technical side, so my expertise as a Design Engineer helped on many occasions to bridge the gap between these two worlds.

During my time there, we released three major projects: The updated Creol Offsets site, carbon footprint calculators for individuals and businesses and the IoT lighting control app.

The updated Creol Offsets site was my first major proposal; the original site was filled with technical jargon and difficult for new users to understand. I produced a preliminary redesign, with many of my design changes reflected in the current site.

As mentioned above, the individual and corporate carbon footprint calculators were almost entirely designed and built by me. Helping to improve the user journey and giving new users a tangible entry point to the carbon offsetting subscription.

The final project to launch was the lighting control app, which myself and the CTO split between us. I was responsible for producing the energy and carbon metrics as well as updating the site navigation layout.

Not only have I learnt a huge amount during the course of my placement, Creol have also widened their product offerings and are incredibly well-positioned to help revolutionise the carbon credit industry through the use of their blockchain technology.

My time at Creol was completely transformative; exposing me to new and exciting technology, applying my skills to real-world problems and overall making me a more experienced and sought-after engineer. Beyond this, my placement taught me many of the nuances of building towards a sustainable future. From here I intend to broaden my knowledge of blockchain technology and use the specialist knowledge I have acquired for future environmentally-sustainable projects.