UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: Melody Shiue

Hi again, I thought I’d update you all on life this semester.
Despite the fact I’m not officially doing any 4th year core courses, I seem to be as busy as ever!
I have spent most of my spare time working on my Thesis research with my friend Ben (Mechatronic Engineer) and so far it’s been a lot of fun. Apart from this, I have found myself in the 2009 Scholarship Fundraiser Team which is providing great experience in communicating and negotiating with others – hopefully a valuable skill for later on in my career.
I have also re-done my math subject which I managed to fail horribly in my first semester. This was over 3 years ago, so remembering my yr 12 maths is proving difficult. Anybody who does choose to do Industrial Design (or any course for that matter) MAKE SURE you allocate enough time to maths first time round even though it might seem completely useless in relationship to your degree. You don’t want to have to re-do a subject like maths and there’s just no way around it!
On a brighter note, I have just completed a practical group project that looked at the ergonomic cockpit layout of the 2009 UNSW Redback Formula SAE racing car. We got to work closely with the Mechanical Engineering students involved with this 600cc open wheel custom built racer, which was very fun – check it out here

Finally, I thought I’d talk about the General Education subject I have been doing this semester. “GenEds” are a great part of uni that are usually undertaken after 2nd year; they allow us to choose from a huge range of subjects that aim to broaden our knowledge outside of our chosen degree. The one I chose this semester was called COFA0215: Society Through the Lens,  and was completed entirely online. I learnt how to take meaningful photographs of everyday things, but in a way that could provide good research based information – I have been able to apply these skills to improve my Thesis.
Whilst university life is busy, it’s a good kind of busy.

UNSW Built Environment Staff: Rina Bernabei – Lighting by Design

Prior to joining UNSW Built Environment as a lecturer in 1996, Rina worked in design studios in Sydney and Milan, her furniture design work won international awards, and was exhibited and published locally and internationally. Whilst in Milan Rina also worked on projects for companies such as; Fiat, Alfa Romeo/Lancia, Disano and Lorica. In 1997 she co founded Ovo Design – a lighting design company that created innovative products using industrial textiles and a mix of craft and industrial production techniques. The resulting designs were in many exhibitions both locally and internationally, most notably at the Milan Furniture Fair. Currently working on new products that explore the relationship between textiles and the interior environment.

Rina, one half of the bernabeifreeman partnership is a leading lighting designer and lecturer in Industrial Design.   Here’s a look at the stunning work behind the name.  And if you want to know more – go have a look at their blog.

UNSW Built Environment congratulates Jason Lam and the other Dyson finalists!

Jason Lam wins Silver!

Jason Lam received the silver award this past weekend in Melbourne at the 2009 International Australian Design Awards – Dyson Student Awards. Jason, along with four other UNSW Industrial Design students were finalists in this year’s competition.  Jason was awarded for his design of Solaqua – a water solar sterilisation system.

Solaqua is a water disinfection unit to be used in rural sub-Saharan Africa. It utilises ultra-violet and infra-red rays from the sun to eliminate pathogens within contaminated water. Raw water is first passed through a sari cloth filter to improve efficiency of solar water disinfection (SODIS). A five tap funnel fills five specially designed bottles to obtain ten litres of water. By spreading and laying the bottles on the ground, the transparent bottle surface allows maximum exposure to UV rays. The black, back surface of each bottle absorbs heat, while reflective inner surfaces reflect UV rays within the water itself.

Jason Lam wins Silver!

UNSW Built Environment Alumni: Industrial Design Graduate Anton Grimes

“Model -making offers a depth of detail that can’t be achieved through any other form of communication:”

Anton is a 2009 finalist in the Australian Design Awards (James Dyson Award)

Movement is crucial to our lives, however current methods of transportation are limited in the way they can be used and have a clear, negative impact on the environment.  With a rising population and population density, there is an increasing demand on an already limited infrastructure.

The Link scooter system is designed as a modular transport solution that can be retro-fitted to existing Streetscape Smart Poles.

Link operated by housing share-scooters in a series of hubs.  The hubs act as both a charging station and as the hire and return station for the scooters.  This system gives the user independent movement at any time.

The scooters and hubs are constructed from a series of robust aluminium castings and pressings.  These parts house polycarbonate and ABS mouldings, which form the physical interface, including the scooter release and power indicator.

Each scooter is fitted with NiMH rechargeable batteries and a 24 V electric motor, which assists the user when traveling between hubs.

The system works as a public hire and share network similar to those in other countries, such as Velib in France.

UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: Adam Long

Well the semester keeps rolling and the assignments keep coming! These last few weeks I’ve found myself designing everything from water tanks to sports watches to mountain bikes! One of the things Industrial Designers focus on is consumer behaviour – how people interact with products, disobey instructions, break them or use them in completely new ways! Because I am designing an electric charging system for electric cars, I wanted to understand how people interact with fuel pumps, so last week I spent some time following people around service stations, observing the ways they use petrol pumps in order to identify the design issues with the existing system. You would be amazed how many people leave behind their petrol caps in an hour!

Consumer behaviour is a fascinating subject, and in Industrial Design the people are more important the products. There are lots of interesting ways to engage people in the product design process, beyond just the regular market research interviews. Jan Chipchase, who works for Nokia, runs “design your dream phone” competitions in the poor communities of India, trying to identify their aspirations. Me on the other hand, I will have to settle for participatory design workshops – getting my friends and family together with lots of lego, cardboard, glue and fabric, and having them build their own dream electric car charger. That’s next week, should be fun!

Heres some pictures of some backyard water tanks I designed last week:

UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: UNSW Nissan Industrial Design Scholarship recipient, Hollie Baigent

Hi there, my name is Hollie and I am in my second year studying Industrial Design. I’m currently designing a chicken coop for urban gardens and backyards. The coop is to be mass-produced and retailed as a flat pack. I am not only learning about design and materials, but also chickens and urban perm culture.

Two years into the course and I have already learnt so much about the principles of design, engineer software programs such as AutoCAD as well as Adobe Illustrator, product design drawing, material experimentation, ergonomics and using machinery in the Industrial Design workshop hub called the Squarehouse Design Lab.

The UNSW Bachelor of Industrial Design course expects you to think and design innovatively to improve design solutions for people and the environment in any product field. But most importantly I think this course is about passion. It’s a lot of work and long nights but at the end of the day, you have to love what you do and do your very best.

Soon I hope to learn more about material technology and how this can be manipulated for product solutions. But on an exciting note, I can’t wait to travel on exchange to experience design education at an international level. I am thinking of going to Italy, Sweden or Japan.

I studied Design and Technology throughout high school and enjoyed exploring my interests in design, materials, and creating things. All this came to fruition in my year 12 major design project, Pudzzle, which was exhibited in the 2007 NSW ‘DesignTECH’ exhibition in the Powerhouse Museum.

Puddzle is an ottoman that transforms into an armchair with adjustable legs and armrests. Concept design, development sketches, discovering inspiration, making endless prototypes, seeking out manufacturers and talking to a wide range of designers about the project – are aspects of the design process that made my year 12 challenges personally worthwhile and insightful.

On reflection, what I really took away from this project was an appreciation of my ability to create a beautiful product capable of manufacture for any home or person around the world. To see my ideas change and transform from sketches and randomly assorted materials to a real material product – this is what really captivated me to want to learn and become a product designer.

My success in this project, as well as other academic and extracurricular activities, helped me to be selected for the first UNSW Nissan Industrial Design Scholarship, the only one in NSW.

This scholarship offers me greater flexibility for course studies and paid work, covering HECS, material and software costs. But more importantly, it offers young designers the opportunity to build student relationships with one of the top leading car companies in the world.

So far the most exciting part of the scholarship was attending the 2008 NSW MotorShow as part of the Nissan Press Release and their concept car ‘Mixim’. I was able to talk to Nissan design directors and see the latest cars on the market.

Here are some of my most recent studio works – a specialised BBQ utensil for a client, an organic shaped plate and cutlery dish rack made of plywood and a Patterns drawing inspired by Escher.

UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: Adam Long

Hi!

My name’s Adam Long and I spend my time developing cool inventions that solve people’s problems. I’m in my final year of Industrial Design, and love the creative hands-on approach to developing new and innovative products. The variety is great – in my four years in the course I’ve developed everything from mobile phones to digital cameras to fish tanks and even playgrounds! In high school, Design and Technology was my favourite subject – I loved seeing ideas come to light as a finished final product. I was inspired by my teacher, a retired industrial designer, and soon found myself enrolling in the Bachelor of Industrial Design program at UNSW.

I have always been passionate about providing opportunities for disadvantaged people to fulfil their dreams, particularly, those disadvantaged in the developing world. So in 2005 I joined Engineers Without Borders, Australia, a non-profit organization that links technical people with development projects across the world. With Engineers Without Borders I have travelled to the Philippines 5 times (every summer!) working on various projects. Last summer I spent 4 months working with poor community groups to help them set up their own businesses. Facilitating a team of local unemployed, my role was to help the group design products they could manufacture themselves.
The energy was fantastic, and soon the group was buzzing with ideas, before settling on weaving designer shopping bags from recycled materials. The team now sells their products all over the world and has a steady income – their kids can go to school and even afford basic healthcare. It is very satisfying to see design skills going towards good causes!

This year is my final year, which requires a design thesis (just like the year 12 major work). I have teamed up with some engineers and am looking at developing the latest technology in electric cars, aiming to create an induction charger that will recharge your car in less than 6 minutes! Wish me luck!

Attached are some pictures of some of the design process (a camera and a floating ice bucket), as well as the bag that my Filipino colleagues designed!

UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: Sascha Dal Santo

Hi there!

My name is Sascha, and I am a 3rd year Industrial Design student at UNSW.

I thought I’d start off by telling you a bit about my course, how I got into the whole design craze, and what Industrial Design students actually get up to whilst at Uni!

When I was in Yr.12 at school, I really enjoyed Design and Technology and Business Studies. With undertaking both subjects for my HSC, when the time came to consider university preferences I looked into a course which would combine both of these subject areas. And along came the lovely degree of Industrial Design.

In all honesty, before going to the open day, I had never actually heard of industrial design. But after talking with some current students and the lecturers, I basically decided then and there this was the course for me.

Industrial Design is a real hands-on, creative flowing course, mixed with business and marketing studies, primarily focused on the design and production of industry products – anything from hairdryers to sofas to food packaging.

We undertake a lot of hands-on design work, starting with the brief and initial concept sketches, to the actual making of mock up models and presentation work. Most of this is carried out in our studio classes. Studio is where you let your entire creativity run wild, and really get to express yourself through design. So instead of sitting in a lecture room, copying out sheets and sheets of lecture notes, we get to go into the work shop, use machinery and make models and projects!

We also undertake a number of other subjects related to product design, such as marketing subjects on consumer behaviour and marketing research, and also other design subjects such as ergonomics and sketching classes.

As you can see, Industrial Design is quite diverse in what it offers to students – you get to experience a wide range of different subjects, and most importantly, enjoy it all at the same time.

Through the course, I hope to achieve a wide range of design skills that will (hopefully!) land me in an awesome profession within the world of design. Just like design itself, my actual preference on where I see myself in 10-15 years always changes!

But through the wide range of numerous skills that I have gained – and am still gaining – there are many opportunities that are accessible through the course of Industrial Design.

UNSW Built Environment Industrial Design: Daniel Sutherland

My name is Daniel and I’m a 21 year old Bachelor of Industrial Design (BIndDes) student at UNSW in my 4th year of study.

BIndDes teaches, in my opinion, the broadest range of skills of any of the Built Environment courses. Our study branches across Design, Marketing and Engineering along with a strong emphasis on developing practical model making skills. The BIndDes program is a perfect continuation of the Engineering, Design & Technology and Marketing orientated courses offered in the HSC (and similar). I took Industrial Technology of Metal Work, Design and Technology, Engineering, Physics and Advanced Math’s in my final years of high school. BIndDes picks up where these types of subjects left off by interrelating them in a way that makes studying much more enjoyable and understandable.

In all honesty, doing work on this subject at uni has rarely been a chore (there’s no way I could have said this about school work obviously!) and I never expected this to be the case.

I’ve worked on 20-30 interesting product-related projects throughout my time at UNSW and been given the opportunity to see these through to the very end, a few examples are shown here:

This year I’ve started working on the mother of all projects – my “thesis” or major work. Basically I get to spend over a year creating any product I like from start to end – possibly even through to patenting and manufacture.

Engineering students have to do a similar project, and I’ve teamed up with one of my best mates (a Mechatronic Engineer) to make things easier and more interesting.

I’ll keep you posted as to the specifics of this project soon.