COLLABORATING WITH IMPACT: A LIVE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT DESIGN PROJECT

DS 88: Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE17), Building Community: Design Education for a Sustainable Future, Oslo, Norway, 7 & 8 September 2017

Year: 2017
Editor: Berg, Arild; Bohemia, Erik; Buck, Lyndon; Gulden, Tore; Kovacevic, Ahmed; Pavel, Nenad
Author: Watkins, Matthew Alan; Ebbert, Christopher; Arthur, Leslie; Attwood, Emma
Series: E&PDE
Institution: 1: Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom; 2: McGee Group Ltd, United Kingdom
Section: Design Education Practice
Page(s): 086-092
ISBN: 978-1-904670-84-1

Abstract

This paper presents work undertaken by 2nd year BSc Product Design students on a live industrial project with McGee a construction company and outlines the success, academic benefits, merits and future work that has been undertaken as a result. The project was initiated by McGee approaching the university and was planned 6 months in advance, with a number of key features including introductory presentations from both McGee and the Metropolitan Police in relation to cycle safety around construction vehicles in London. On the same day a demonstration of the vehicle in question at was combined with an exchanging places cycle event at the university. Following this students were taken on a site visit and briefing to enhance their understanding of the situation. McGee offered a cash prize for the winning team as an incentive and the project was run over a 5 week period as a group based design project in a studio environment and was additionally supported by the students applied technology classes. At the end of the project students presented their work to representatives from McGee and the Metropolitan Police and the student’s work was subsequently displayed and exhibited in the McGee headquarters before a decision on the winning teams was announced. McGee were very impressive with the students efforts and outcomes and have since filed a patent jointly between the company and students for the winning solution. This solution is now being developed into a production ready product by a final year student in collaboration with McGee. This innovative collaborate project resulted in McGee and Nottingham Trent University being shortlisted for and receiving two high commended awards at an industry safety award ceremony as well as a number of press releases in the local and trade media. However, the notable impact was the marked improvement in the students’ motivation and attainment on this particular project, which will be explored in detail.

Keywords: Collaboration, Industry, Motivation, Impact, Product Design, Cycle Safety, Multidisciplinary

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