The John McMordie Spirit Award is given annually to a graduating Product Realization Lab Course Assistant who epitomizes John’s memory. John inspired Product Realization Lab culture. He combined talent with humility. He led with deep dedication to the lab. He celebrated every student. We miss him.
We remember John through the following quote from former PRL CA Stephen Bannick,
“My first day at Stanford I was greeted by five wide smiles but none was wider or more enthusiastic than John McMordie’s. John was my RA in my freshman dorm, Trancos. He would end up playing a much more important role. I would spend many free hours in John’s room which was always open. I asked him how he had learned to make all of these fantastic objects. A smile spread across his face as he explained how he had learned everything in the Product Realization Lab which had encouraged him to be the maker he became. From that day on I knew I wanted to become a part of the PRL to feel the joy evident in John’s smile.
I finally had the opportunity to start my PRL journey in ME203 in the spring of my sophomore year. Like many students, I had no prior shop experience. Luckily for me, John McMordie had accepted a position as a PRL CA. I scheduled his shop sessions into my calendar and made sure to consult him on any design decision I made. Despite my anxiety during the many steps of making a finished product, he consistently remained calm, helpful, and most of all joyful. On the day before the PRL closed for the quarter, I proudly revealed to him all of my aluminum parts bead blasted and ready to be anodized. He briefly rejoiced with me, but then asked about the wooden cup, the last part of my design. I explained that I didn’t have the time or material. Without saying anything he walked me to the wood shop and presented me with a maple turning blank. ‘Now you have material!’ ‘You can do it and I know you will be so proud when you finish your design.’ Over the next day I turned and finished the last part of my project right before the lab closed. He was right. Not only was I able to finish the cup, but completing my design in its entirety brought me pride and confidence in my ability to make my dreams a reality in the PRL.”
This year the McMordie award goes to Alejandra Mulan MacDougall. Like John, Mulan greets every student with a warm smile and radiates her confidence that all of her students will be successful, and is proud of their accomplishments. Over the past two years, Mulan has been very active in the development of our new course, ME102 Foundations of Product Realization with Marlo Kohn and Dan Somen. Marlo writes, “Mulan always comes in with an eager and positive attitude. She is persistent, creative, and incredibly kind. I have seen many students drawn to her—her energy is confident, and welcoming. Mulan is a patient listener; when others are struggling, she is there to care for them.”
As a PRL CA for the past two years, Mulan has worked closely with Craig Milroy who observes that, “Mulan embodies the word spirit. She lives in the world of positivity, activity, and enthusiasm. She is always willing and eager to contribute both ideas and her own work and effort. It is rare that Mulan's hand is not the first to go up when volunteers are requested. She is a true contributor across the broad spectrum of activities in the PRL and she will be sorely missed when she graduates.”
This year, at a time when an increasing fraction of our students come to Stanford with limited financial resources, Mulan has created an exquisite tutorial document entitled “Cost-Effective Project Scoping in the Stanford Product Realization Lab”. Her introduction opens with a quote she selected from Shel Silverstein (with minor edits):
Invitation
If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer…
If you are a maker come sit by my fire
For we have some beautiful projects to spin.
Come in!
Come In!
Mulan continues, “And now for my second guarantee: with enough thoughtfulness, and with enough intention, and with enough planning, you can make something wonderful here.”
The entire PRL community recognizes Mulan for her smile, her gift for teaching, her advocacy for students who may come to us disadvantaged, and for her friendship. We will miss her, AND she must recognize that she has no choice except to accept a lifetime membership in our community. As she grows in new directions and gains even more power in making our world better, we beg her to come occasionally and sit by our fire.
Submitted by the students, staff, and teaching team of the Product Realization Lab on Wednesday the 10th of June, 2020
