A visionary, low-tech design research project called Engineering at Home begun in 2016 by Caitrin Lynch, professor of anthropology at Olin, has sparked new interest as objects from the projects as well as the entire website have been acquired by London’s Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum.
One of the installations for Design and Disability at V&A South Kensington.
Engineering at Home began as a collaboration between Lynch, then-Olin faculty member Sara Hendren (now at Northeastern University), and Cindy Wack Garni, a woman whose sudden heart attack in 2009 resulted in the amputation of both of her legs below the knees and fingers on both hands.
“I met Cindy in 2012 for a research project about how people with disabilities use medical alert systems, and I was so impressed with her creativity in adapting to her world,” says Lynch. “She visited one of Sara’s classes and showed students several low-tech devices she’d designed to help her live her life, such as repurposed cable ties for pulling out drawers and salad tongs for holding a sandwich.”
Hendren and Lynch decided they wanted to communicate Cindy’s story to the world—to people designing technology as well as people adapting their own environments to work better for their needs—to encourage thinking about the day-to-day lives of people with disabilities.
"We wanted people to be able to see themselves in those objects," says Lynch. "If and when our bodies change, what objects would be the ones that help us with the activities we care about most?"
Together, they created the Engineering at Home website, intentionally using the visual language of design drawings to get people to question their assumptions of high tech versus low tech, as well as what “deserves” the formal consideration of technical drawings.
“Cindy had a $90,000 custom robotic arm that she never used because the low-tech objects worked better for her,” says Lynch. “Mundane and simple objects may carry more functionality, and certainly more meaning, to people who use them.”
A tactile map at the London Museum.
The V&A’s exhibition Design and Disability explores how disabled, Deaf, and neurodivergent people have contributed to contemporary design and culture. The exhibition includes several Engineering at Home artifacts, including silicone silverware holders, a customized cold cream jar lid, and zip ties used to help open a cosmetics bag.
Engineering at Home artifacts have also been featured at other exhibitions throughout the years, such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in South Korea; RECIPROCITY design liège in Belgium; and the Saint-Étienne International Design Biennial in France.
“We did not anticipate that this project would have the extended reach that it has, but it’s a topic that really resonates with people,” says Lynch. “One could think this is just one clever person’s story about adapting to adversity, but we want to invite viewers to think more generally about how people with disabilities—all of whom are very different—are living every day.”
For Lynch, Cindy’s story exemplifies Olin’s overall approach of Engineering for Everyone—it invites new perspectives on what it means to do engineering and who can be considered an engineer.
"Design is embedded into Olin’s curriculum from the very first semester, and we integrate a deep understanding of human-centered and participatory design,” says Lynch. “We want students to bring in different disciplines and perspectives to broaden their understanding of where engineering belongs in the world, what are relevant engineering skills and where those skills are applicable.”
Design and Disability is on display at the V&A through February 15, 2026, and selections from Engineering at Home, including the website itself, have also been accessioned for the museum’s permanent collection.
Photos from the Exhibit
