When mechanical engineering Professor Hyeonik Song’s smart lamp was knocked off a table by his young daughter, damaging its wire, he thought about tossing it out. But his recent work with a student on cultivating a repair mentality made him reconsider whether the lamp could be fixed.
He devised a plan to extend the damaged wire by attaching a new one, and within 20 minutes, it was shining again.
“The lamp doesn’t look the same, but it works just fine,” he said, smiling as he added that it’s now safely out of reach of small hands. The simple repair marked a turning point: “It’s not easy to repair, but everyone is capable of fixing their own devices.”
This mindset sparked his summer research project, exploring how self-repair practices impact students from diverse backgrounds, particularly those traditionally underserved in STEM. His team will analyze survey data from Cal Poly students on their self-repair experiences and their use of the university’s Repair Café and makerspaces. The goal is to identify barriers and uncover key themes that can guide recommendations for promoting equity and integrating repair skills into engineering education.
“Through this project, we want to understand how students engage with repair cafés and makerspaces,” he said. “Our goal is to discover what drives them to take on repairs.”
Designing for a Greener Future
Song’s academic journey began with a focus on design, with his graduate and post-grad research dedicated to making the engineering design process more cost-effective. However, he realized that prioritizing affordability often leads to products being discarded more easily, contributing to environmental harm.
He cited the example of a computer keyboard: when keycaps stick or the connection falters, it’s often cheaper to buy a new keyboard than to replace the faulty parts.
Now, as he enters his second year of teaching at Cal Poly, Song is adopting a new perspective – one that prioritizes not just cost optimization but also the repairability and longevity of products.
This shift aligns with California’s new SB 244, the Right to Repair Act, which took effect on July 1. The law requires manufacturers to provide tools, parts and documentation for repairs, promoting sustainability and reducing e-waste.
“The right-to-repair movement is the future,” he said, noting that Apple now provides online access to repair manuals for customers wanting to fix their own devices. “Major tech companies are embracing this shift, and I hope others will follow their lead.”
Beyond the consumer market, Song sees significant potential for integrating repairability into engineering education.
“When you repair something, you begin by taking it apart to understand how it works. Then, you analyze the problem and develop a solution,” he explained. “It’s a process that builds both problem-solving skills and technical expertise.”
Empowering Students through Repair
As global demand for repairability in product design grows, Song believes it’s crucial to examine how individuals experience repairing their own devices.
Enter his Summer Undergraduate Research Program project.
Mechanical engineering students Maya Malay and Lilyane Stessman have teamed up with Song to create a comprehensive survey on self-repair. This fall, they will distribute it to students, asking about their experiences, including reasons for attempting or avoiding repairs. The findings, combined with their analysis, will be compiled into a research paper aimed at broadening the conversation on integrating repair skills into education.
Although they began the project with limited knowledge, Malay and Stessman are excited about the opportunity to engage a wider range of students.
“This work has opened my eyes and made me want to repair my devices more often,” said Malay, a Batavia, Illinois, native. “Ironically, my inexperience became an asset, helping me to genuinely consider what would motivate someone like me to pursue a repair.”
She offered several ideas, including collaboration between the Cal Poly Repair Café and student clubs, broader event advertising and incorporating more repair-related discussions and projects into campus life, such as in freshman labs or design philosophy classes.
“It’s rewarding to take what I’ve learned and apply it to my classes at Cal Poly, making changes and offering recommendations. It really hits close to home,” she said.
Stessman hopes to raise awareness about the tools available in the machine shops that could help students with their repair work.
“When you’re not familiar with the tools, it can be intimidating to step into the machine shops,” said Stessman, from Turlock, California. “I didn’t realize the potential of those tools, and now I’m focused on making those spaces more accessible and welcoming for students like me.”
They plan to collect demographic information through their survey and analyze trends in the data to refine their recommendations for attracting a more diverse group to machine shops, repair cafés and makerspaces.
“Based on our research, repairability is a valuable aspect of engineering education, but it will be interesting to see if there’s interest in repair beyond the College of Engineering,” Stessman said. “This could expand our reach to a much broader audience.”
By Emily Slater
Leading the right-to-repair movement
Kyle Wiens, the 2023 College of Engineering Honored Alumnus (Computer Science, ‘05), has been a trailblazer in the right-to-repair movement since founding iFixit with Luke Soules (Industrial Engineering, ‘06) over 20 years ago.
IFixit, a wiki-based site and repair community renowned for its advocacy, gadget teardowns and free repair guides, cosponsored Senate Bill 244 – the landmark law that strengthens consumer rights and access to repair.
To learn more about Wiens and his dedication to the right to repair, watch our video here.
