Sada (Echo)

Sada is a capstone project by Salman Rouhani, class of 2020. He designed and manufactured a high-fidelity speaker with the goal of demonstrating that craftsmanship and heritage in the UAE can be utilized to create modern luxury products that are able to elegantly embody and integrate the stories and traditions of the past. To achieve this objective, Salman drew inspiration from the traditional craft of Dhow (ship) building in the UAE and Gulf region.

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Salman had already decided on his goal in October 2018, and throughout 2019 and early 2020 he rigorously documented each step of his capstone progress in the form of blog posts on his portfolio website. Salman had a grand task in mind: to create a speaker that would bring forward traditional Emirati craftsmanship into the world of modern product design. He sought to "create a product that is effortlessly modern and contemporary in its design language whilst being a reflection, rather, an echo of the heritage of the UAE and the artisanship of its past inhabitants, thereby, contributing to the creation of an Emirati design identity."

Since the task was such a challenge, Salman put effort not only into the manufacturing process but also into developing the right mindset and philosophy of his research that's inspired by the concept of Design Thinking. Even the space in which he worked – his capstone studio – is planned and designed with a lot of thoughtfulness and rationale.

Rouhani's capstone was highly praised by his capstone advisor, Goffredo Puccetti.

"Salman put together the perfect capstone. I rank this project among the five best I have ever seen in the history of NYUAD. The project is significant in many ways. First and foremost is a testament to the curiosity, ingenuity and hardworking attitude, and uncompromising devotion to self-improvement of Salman. The idea of designing and manufacturing on his own, from prototyping to completion, a complex artifact such as a high fidelity speaker was bold and he approached it with maturity and intelligence. From the moment he set his mind to the project during junior year, he has been focused and committed to delivering: when he-almost single-handedly designed a directed study class with me on Design Sketching, he already had the idea of a speaker in his mind.

His accountability, discipline, and hardworking attitude have been remarkable. He would have plenty of possibilities to slow down, considering the [Covid-19] emergency, and we would have of course understood. He did not see that as an opportunity to deliver less than what he set his mind to. He persevered and excelled, to quote our University Seal." – said Puccetti.

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