Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation
Dan Somen standing inside the Product Realization Lab.
Spotlight

Dan Somen

Technical Director, Product Realization Lab
Mechanical Engineering
I didn’t have an “aha moment” when it came to becoming an engineer.

Like a lot of people in this profession, as a kid I liked logic puzzles and building things, but I also loved music. I grew up in Chicago, and in high school I was in a ska band; ska is music that originated in Jamaica and is a precursor to reggae. I ended up singing in that band for eight years. Even as I was doing my undergraduate work in engineering and applied science at the California Institute of Technology, we’d still get together when I’d go back to Chicago on school breaks.

After graduating, I returned to Chicago to find a job and to keep playing with my band. I worked for eight years in product design and development and was content at my job, but at one point I realized I wasn’t necessarily happy. While looking into what I might want to do, I found Stanford and the d.school, and decided to come here for a master’s degree in product design, which at the time was a joint program between mechanical engineering and the art department.

I quickly discovered the Product Realization Lab and fell in love with it, in large part because most of the supervision of the lab is done by course assistants, who act as peers and role models for our students, which was different from other maker spaces I’d experienced. I started working here as a course assistant in my second year and liked it so much that it inspired me to think about ways to combine my interests in design, art, music, and manufacturing. I was able to talk to professors in different schools and design an interdisciplinary course of study that included classes at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA).

Today as PRL’s technical director, I’m responsible for ensuring that the lab remains capable of supporting the teaching of design and manufacturing at Stanford as we move into the future. I connect the lab to faculty to see how we can support their programs, look for new pieces of equipment, and monitor the safety of the work being done here. I was not originally hired to teach, but an opportunity arose, so today I’m also on the academic staff, and this year I’m teaching Design for Additive Manufacturing, a lab-based course to introduce students to 3D printing.

Part of what I enjoy about this position is working alongside students during their time at the PRL. Some don’t have much engineering experience, while others do. But in working by themselves, with their peers, and with the lab staff, we get to see the light bulbs come on, and toward the end of their projects they tell us, “Oh, this is what engineering is” and how it can be fun.

We’re seeing an increase in the use of the PRL – over 1,500 people from across the university came in to use the lab last year. Those numbers are in large part due to increasing interest in 3D printing and the availability and accessibility of the machines. When I first got here in 2012, we had two 3D printers. Today we have 35 of varying types, which encourage students’ creativity and expand our teaching opportunities.

To me, engineering is about taking an idea and having the confidence and technical skills to be able to implement it, whether that’s turning a cardboard box into a lighted fire truck for my 4-year-old at Halloween or helping our students make the next generation of medical devices and autonomous robots. That’s what I love about this work.  

Related spotlights

Sonia Martin posting outside alongside one of the engineering quad's marble spheres.

Sonia Martin

PhD candidate
Mechanical Engineering
When I first began making decisions about college and my career, I didn’t even know what engineering was.
Read Sonia Martin's story
Portrait of Christine in a black top sitting alongside cement steps and grass.

Christine Baker

Assistant Professor
Civil & Environmental Engineering
I grew up in Renton, Washington, near Puget Sound, which is a beautiful part of the Pacific Northwest.
Read Christine Baker's story
Portrait of Thomas Colburn in a gray suit, standing outside on a sunny day in the engineering quad.

Thomas Colburn

PhD candidate
Materials Science and Engineering
I was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. We were surrounded by nature, so my siblings and friends and I spent a lot of time exploring the wilderness and getting lost in the woods.
Read Thomas Colburn's story