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Darren MacDonald (BScKin’96) grew up in Glace Bay, NS and was always fascinated with sports, anatomy and shoe design. After considering several kinesiology programs, he chose Dalhousie University because of its great reputation and many of his family members were alumni.

As an ergonomist, he studied the science of equipment design, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. He started working in his hometown and from there went on to work in all Canadian provinces, and in 42 US states before returning home to Cape Breton.  “I loved interacting with people in different sectors and getting to know how they do their jobs making semiconductors, automobiles, beer and processed garlic etc. The job/industry may have changed but the people doing the work remained the same, which helps when they are our main focus,” he says.

Darren believes many of the tools and methods underpinning the profession have been pretty constant since his days as a student. But over the last 10-15 years, many have been moved into digital versions of the paper-based products. He says, “it wasn’t until the invention of the iPhone, recent developments in-camera technology and the use of AI/machine learning did the field get exciting again. There are lots of opportunities to bring more precision to field operations, which was mostly dictated by the experience/expertise of the ergonomist.”

Darren currently works at Cape Breton University as the director of the Innovation & Entrepreneurial Centre and lecturers in the areas of ‘design thinking and idea validation’.  “When I first heard about ‘design thinking’ I thought it was super cool, then I got into the weeds and realized it was really a lot of the stuff I have been doing my entire career. Observing people, interviewing people, trying to put yourself in their shoes (empathy), brainstorming alternative ways of doing something, prototyping solutions for feedback and then implementing changes.  Sounds like ergonomics to me!”

His role involves looking for ways to harness what is taught in ‘design thinking’ and apply it to real world problems or opportunities. The biggest challenge is to get students to let go of the idea and focus on the problem the idea was attempting to solve.  “That is also the most satisfying part of my job because if they understand they need to be problem-focused and not idea/solution-focused they will have a much easier time building a business.”

“My hypothesis is most start-up companies fail because they are building something that nobody wants or needs.  If they stay focused on the problem, share their ideas and talk to potential users, they will have success, I am there to basically push back and coach them,” he says.

On the surface it may look like Darren has changed career paths but he feels he has been doing the same thing since he left Dalhousie. “I am a keen observer of people which many of my kinesiology classes prepared me for, whether it was using video analysis, biomechanical model analysis or the naked eye. I use those skills in ergonomics, teaching and designing physical or digital products.  Fundamentally I took a user-centred design program and I have been continually evolving my experiences in that domain.”

“Understanding the human condition can help you in any field because humans are all around us. I don’t work in a traditional health care setting, nor would I want to.  I took kinesiology to understand how to prevent injuries, errors, etc. and not to rehabilitate them.  That is what is so appealing about health promotion and prevention, if we do our job correctly, we can save human tragedy and financial loss.”

“I want students to think like an entrepreneur, take as many classes outside of your major as you can in a variety of fields.  If you read the headlines 70-85% of the jobs in 2030 don’t even exist yet.  Be a life-long learner, a veracious reader and always think about challenging the status quo.  I am lucky I get to work with a fabulous faculty member Corrine McIsaac (Dalhousie PhD ’18) and her nursing students to tackle healthcare challenges.  The past two years we were able to pitch technology ideas to the Minister of Health, and as a result some of the students are considering med-tech start-ups instead of clinical practice.”

Darren is presently enrolled in his second Master’s degree, an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Innovation & Entrepreneurship.  He views this as an extension of his ergonomics work because of impact analysis and productivity predictions. “I was always a bit of a ‘stats geek’.  I continue to work on my coding skills and my user-experience (UX) design for digital products.  I may have one more degree in me if I can find a good PhD in Digital Design or User-experience.  If not, I am happy to get my last ski instruction level (CSIA Level 4) and ski off into retirement using my kinesiology skills to analyze skiers, identify problems and come up with corrective actions for improvement in their skiing.”