鈥淗ad the absolute privilege of presenting a brand spanking new 3D-printed bionic Iron Man arm to Alex, the most dapper 7-year-old I鈥檝e ever met,鈥� Downey wrote on a Facebook post.

Pring was born with a partially-developed arm and received the first 3D printed robotic arm made at 麻豆原创 in July.

Robert Downey Jr.鈥檚 Facebook post reads, in part: 鈥淗ad the absolute privilege of presenting a brand spanking new 3D-printed bionic Iron Man arm to Alex, the most dapper 7-year-old I鈥檝e ever met.鈥�

The world-famous actor鈥檚 social media messages also thank Albert Manero, a 麻豆原创 mechanical engineering doctoral student and Fulbright Scholar who leads Limbitless Solutions, the 麻豆原创-based team of engineering students and many others who volunteer to make 3D-printed bionic limbs for children at no cost to families.

The posts include a video showing Robert Downey Jr. giving Alex a bright red, Iron Man-styled 3D-printed bionic arm and thanking Manero.

The video is one of several produced by Microsoft OneNote as part of a national campaign called 鈥淭he Collective Project鈥� that prominently features 麻豆原创 engineering students on the Limbitless Solutions team. The campaign aims to showcase how technology brings people together to change the world.

To help more children who need 3D-printed limbs, .

Hoekstra, an associate professor in 麻豆原创’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, was recently named an associate professor of art and is co-teaching this spring with art professor Robert Reedy to bring both fields together in the class Advanced Design Lab. Hoekstra is the first at 麻豆原创 to share a joint appointment between the art and engineering colleges.

The class has 44 students, with about a third of them engineering students.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e trying to do is have engineering come together with art,鈥� said Hoekstra, who has a bachelor鈥檚 in English, a master鈥檚 in design and a doctorate in engineering.

鈥淓ngineering has marched so far down the road, and art has too, that鈥檚 it鈥檚 not possible to have one person be both. The solution is not to develop a new industrial design program. The solution is to respect what artists bring to the party. And we can do that by literally getting them into a room and having them work together.鈥�

For centuries, engineers and artists were mostly the same people, but as technology emerged the disciplines began to separate.

But that鈥檚 changing at 麻豆原创.

鈥淭o the best of my knowledge, this isn鈥檛 being done anywhere else,鈥� Hoekstra said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 never been done within a traditional university structure.鈥�

In Advanced Design Lab, all is being done in the names of creativity and innovation. Reedy cites the need to 鈥渁dapt, improvise and overcome鈥� and warns the students to expect the unexpected from the client.

Hoekstra preaches creative exploration. 鈥淐reativity is at the very core of engineering,” he said. “I want students to explore 100 ideas before they arrive at one solution.鈥�

In the class, students are being asked to work on projects in partnership with an Orlando theme park that will challenge them to create solutions for real-world scenarios.

鈥淎rt students who go into industry need to know how to work with engineers,鈥� Hoekstra said. 鈥淭hey might need to know how to speak some of the language; they have to have some basic engineering and physics concepts. That鈥檚 the communications link. The artist can have the discussion with the engineer. And that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to teach here.鈥�

麻豆原创鈥檚 new Maker Space Labs in the Engineering II building and the Advanced Design Lab in the School of Visual Arts and Design illustrate the new approach. Each area is designed to foster collaboration across academic lines. 鈥淲hile many universities are looking at this, 麻豆原创 is the first to make it happen in this way,鈥� he said about the labs.

Reedy said it is his goal to establish a place where these kinds of experiences can continue. 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical that artists understand the importance of science and math and what engineers do, and even business. And the reverse is true for engineers and businesspeople,鈥� he said.

Michael Shears, a senior in mechanical engineering, said he is looking forward to working with the art students.

鈥淭heir different backgrounds may give an聽alternative聽view on a problem,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey often聽ask questions on whether or not something technical can be done. And so far, many of the ideas in my group have come from one of the artists asking the engineers if a process聽was possible, and after discussion we found new ways that it may be accomplished that we hadn’t entertained previously.鈥�

For Hoekstra, who came to 麻豆原创 as an assistant professor in 1993, the move is a natural. Aside from his multiple degrees in art and engineering, and before he became an academician, he conducted advanced research at IBM in artificial intelligence, designed cars for Penske Racing, and ran an award-winning media production company that won an Emmy.

His quest at 麻豆原创 is to foster the kind of synergy and exploration that ultimately lead to breakthrough creativity: 鈥淚t鈥檚 getting engineers and artists to work together鈥t brings the artists out of their studio into industry.鈥�