It\u27s all about the money: adding value to industry through industrial design-led innovations

There are a lot of studies describing the importance of university-industry engagement (Shane, 2004; Friedman and Silberman, 2003; Jensen et al., 2003; Link et al., 2003, D\u27Este and Patel, 2007), however very few describe the detailed working relationships required to satisfy both the university and the company involved. More importantly, there is limited work done showing the value of such engagement from a commercial point of view. This study provides an authoritative guide for understanding successful engagement with industry to help manufacturers diversify their output to increase profit margins and sustain production in often declining industries. This study plays particular focus to industrial design-led innovations for manufacturers directly associated with the demise of the Australian automotive sector. Research-led practice in industrial design shows the importance of new product options for these struggling automotive supply companies and the manner in which this is done successfully is discussed with evidence from recent activities completed for prominent Australian automotive suppliers. Following this, customer engagement through sales and marketing, the value issues, the value for customers and the value for companies engaging with universities is described to provide a clear method of engagement from initial meeting through to commercially viable outcome

Viewpoint: Design and Engineering Convergence Education in a Korean and Australian Context

Background - In this article, we provide two views on product design engineering education of two design educators from Korea and Australia. We argue that industrial design and engineering design need to be combined in order to support a total design philosophy that aims to improve design education. Therefore, the changing direction of design education for a total design perspective — and Korean and Australian design education — including industry situations are discussed. Product design education in Korea has focused on developing the physical appearance of a product. The concept of engineering design was recently introduced in Korea, and most design schools still belong to art schools. Nowadays, Korean industry is required to develop new businesses in the manufacturing sector, as the industry is facing the situation where ???fast follower??? strategy does not work for sustained growth and ultimately sustained success. This has grabbed the attention of product design engineers who can develop creative designs and materialize the concepts. In contrast, Australia is facing the end of a mining boom as well as a significant decline in automotive manufacturing. This has forced industry to challenge innovation in manufacturing which has generally been made up of SMEs. As such, the role of product design engineering is emphasized. We conclude that product design engineering education with industrial design and mechanical engineering can be primitive to strengthen the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in both countries. Methods - The views provided in this article were assembled from the existing literature, and based on our current experience of running design engineering convergence education programs in undergraduate and graduate levels. In general, the arguments made in this article are not attracted from theoretical and empirical research. They are rather based on our own perspectives of design engineering education. Thus, the views can be more critically based on holistic analyses of industry situations. Results & Conclusions - In this article, we examine that how a strong and well-defined product design engineering program within a university context can add significant value to the industry. Product design engineering is a hybrid program that combines analytical engineering sciences with creative industrial design capabilities. It provides a platform that can reshape product offerings for companies that seek to diversify or expand into new markets. Product design engineering links seamlessly toward current industry needs by producing creative design engineers at the forefront of innovation and new product development.ope

Implementing a design thinking approach to de-risk the digitalisation of manufacturing SMEs

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) has proposed a significant shift in the way companies approach manufacturing. However, this new paradigm is not without faults. The integration of processes and equipment (‘digitalisation’) can be prohibitively expensive or too technically complex for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) with limited resources and technical expertise. Another barrier to digitalisation lies in the ambiguity of not knowing what precise practices to adopt to improve productivity. Although these challenges have been identified in the literature, there is still little evidence on how to tackle them. Thus, we explore how design thinking can help overcome these challenges, given that it has been used in many organisations and disciplines to deal with complex and ambiguous problems. We do so by investigating the research question ‘How can designers and design thinking processes assist manufacturing SMEs’ digitalisation?’ We address this research question by presenting a case study of a university–industry collaboration where the authors utilised a design-thinking process to select and implement technologies to capture, process and analyse data for an Australian medical device manufacturer. By reflecting on the case study, we identified the user-centeredness of design thinking as crucial in selecting technologies for implementation that prioritised usability and brought value to all stakeholders. Furthermore, iterative prototyping was critical to scale up the required expertise and deliver a successful sustainable solution without investing vast resources. Our work suggests that designers and design thinking have the potential to help de-risk digitalisation. Finally, we suggest a framework that may assist in guiding other SMEs approaching digitalisation and provide a starting point for further design thinking research in this area

The Importance of Design: a comparative evaluation of problem solving in engineering education.

Engineering education has been criticised for focusing solely on the science of engineering, to the detriment of preparing students for the practice of engineering. Graduates are considered by many in industry to be ill-prepared for real world problem solving and to have limited experience in applying their engineering knowledge to product outcomes. Instruction in design is uncommon, and where existing, follows a linear and predictable process that does not afford students opportunity for experimentation and exploration. However new engineering education pedagogy seeks to address these issues through early integration of design and project based learning into the curricula. This paper describes the initial findings of a comparative evaluation exercise conducted to measure relative aptitude in problem solving by two disciplines of final year engineering students and thus validate the impact of new engineering curricula. The evaluated students were from a typical Mechanical Engineering course and from the less conventional Product Design Engineering program which integrates industrial design studies into mechanical engineering curricula. Students’ problem solving methods were observed, the design outcomes were evaluated and participants surveyed. These exercises challenged the student’s problem framing and solving abilities and required the application of engineering science and design acumen to achieve a creative solution for either an open-ended or constrained problem. The early findings of this ongoing investigation are examined here, and the benefits of developing a creative design focus within an engineering curriculum are clearly evident

Pedometer use and self-determined motivation for walking in a cardiac telerehabilitation program: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation reduces morbidity and mortality. Walking is a convenient activity suitable for people with cardiac disease. Pedometers count steps, measure walking activity and motivate people to increase physical activity. In this study, patients participating in cardiac telerehabilitation were provided with a pedometer to support motivation for physical activity with the purpose of exploring pedometer use and self-determined motivation for walking experienced by patients and health professionals during a cardiac telerehabilitation program. METHODS: A qualitative research design consisting of observations, individual interviews and patient documents made the basis for a content analysis. Data was analysed deductively using Self Determination Theory as a frame for analysis and discussion, focusing on the psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness. Twelve cardiac patients, 11 health professionals, 6 physiotherapists and 5 registered nurses were included. RESULTS: The pedometer offered independence from standardised rehabilitation since the pedometer supported tailoring, individualised walking activity based on the patient’s choice. This led to an increased autonomy. The patients felt consciously aware of health benefits of walking, and the pedometer provided feedback on walking activity leading to an increased competence to achieve goals for steps. Finally, the pedometer supported relatedness with others. The health professionals’ surveillance of patients’ steps, made the patients feel observed, yet supported, furthermore, their next of kin appeared to be supportive as walking partners. CONCLUSION: Cardiac patients’ motivation for walking was evident due to pedometer use. Even though not all aspects of motivation were autonomous and self determined, the patients felt motivated for walking. The visible steps and continuous monitoring of own walking activity made it possible for each individual patient to choose their desired kind of activity and perform ongoing adjustments of walking activity. The immediate feedback on step activity and the expectations of health benefits resulted in motivation for walking. Finally, pedometer supported walking made surveillance possible, giving the patients a feeling of being looked after and supported. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current study is a part of The Teledi@log project

InVIEW: reusable digital camera system

This work is part of an exhibition of student work as case studies guided by teams of university educators, passionate about design and the principles of sustainable development. Tourism is a service-based industry comprising a number of tangible and intangible components. The tangible elements include transport, food and beverages, souvenirs and accommodation, whilst the intangible elements involve education, culture, adventure or simply escape and relaxation. This project aims to support the intangible elements whilst reducing the impact of one tangible element---the taking of photos. At least 30 chemicals are used in filmbased photo processing. The use, and environmental impact, of film is reduced by providing access to reusable digital cameras, as a service. The system operates through the co-ownership of joint objects. It involves a digitalcamera-sharing kiosk, that can be distributed around the Centre of Melbourne. The kiosk dispenses and takes back reusable digital cameras, returning a small CD of the images taken by the user. The proposed cost to the user is $15

An improved test method for assessing the resistance of paint coatings to separation from surface modified timber

Abstract not availabl

Design for disability: Industrial design-led interventions for assistive cutlery

This research details the potential for design-led interventions in regards to assistive cutlery within a hospitality environment. Design for disability, especially in terms of cutlery, has remained aesthetically stagnant within the area of hospitality. Products currently exist for use in the home environment, however due to a lack of concentration on the aesthetic resolution, they remain under-utilized. The importance of industrial design as a discipline to influence change in current product development activities for this industry is highlighted, and shows that the physical manifestation of a product is a result of a professionally trained industrial designer who increasingly utilizes inclusive design principles to develop appealing assistive products

Which visualisation tools and why? Evaluating perceptions of student and practicing designers toward Digital Sketching

An ever-increasing array of design visualisation tools is available to designers. As such, design education is constantly challenged to keep up with these trends so that students are best equipped for entering industrial practice. This paper reports a study into the use of digital sketching, a relatively new digital visualisation tool. The study aims to identify thematic differences in how students and practitioners perceive digital sketching in terms of the tool’s characteristics, and how these characteristics guide its application in early stages of the design process. Data on perceptions is captured using design diaries and semi-structured interviews. Results show key differences in the way that practitioners perceive the intent of visualisation. Practitioners focus on iterating toward a solution during the design process, while students are much more focused on the task of creating visualisations. This reveals an underlying contradiction in the way tools are perceived between creating visualisations to gain expertise or skill versus creating them to advance the design process. The insights help improve our understanding of how the different characteristics of digital sketching inform its use and reflect on how we educate students with respect to selecting and using digital sketching. We conclude with implications from this for education of digital sketching, as well as other emerging digital visualisation tools

Centre for Design Innovation - Urban Design Architecture - Korean War Memorial Video

This video from the Urban Design Architecture program at Centre for Design Innovation (CDI) demonstrates the results of one of their key projects, the Melbourne Korean War Memorial