Overview
Our Product Design course helps you to take your imaginative ideas and make them real. To do that you need both the creativity and the technical skills to bring your ideas to life.
On this course you’ll study the fundamentals of maths and science, electrical, electronic and mechanical principles, and simulation and fluid dynamics, as well as the functional and market-led requirements of product design.
You’ll look at specific areas including technology integration, computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D design, sustainability and design for manufacture, and be taught by academics with current industry connections.
Key features
- Our course is accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers – this enables graduates to work towards membership.
- Gain professional experience with industry professionals during an optional placement year. Our students have benefited from placements at BMW, Dyson, Cambridge Consultants and Jaguar Land Rover.
- Boost your portfolio and profile by entering national and international competitions. We support students to do this by helping them apply their practical knowledge to real-world briefs and assisting with teamwork, motivation, and a review of learnings following competitions. Our students have previously won awards from D&AD, James Dyson and New Designers.
- Learn from academic staff currently involved in commercial projects with companies such as Berghaus and Adidas.
- The award-winning Vijay Patel Building provides both the space and the facilities to foster creative thinking, where ideas can develop and flourish for all our art and design course students. You will have access to engineering laboratories that bring together a wide range of equipment used in design, manufacture, prototyping and testing.
- We provide core workshop materials at no cost, and give cash awards – £150, £200 and £300 in years one, two and three respectively – to support personal materials/printing costs.*
Structure and assessment
Course modules
First year
- The Principles of Three-Dimensional Design
- CAD for Product Designers 1
- Electrical and Electronic Principals
- Mechanical Principals
Second year
- Innovation and Design Technology Integration
- CAD for Product Designers 2
- Strength of Materials
- Product Design and Development
Third year
- Industrial Design Projects
- Graphical and Digital Communications
- Electronic and Mechanical Systems
Teaching and assessments
Overview
The curriculum is focussed on vocational skills, engineering knowledge and intellectual development – encompassing a broad range of content from design, manufacturing to ethics. Coursework and examinations are the main methods of learning and assessment.
You will be taught by design academics and visiting design consultants with specialist knowledge and skills in either product or furniture design. Our staff have all worked in industry and carry out commercial activity and research. Visiting lecturers support week-long projects or conduct weekly seminars, tutorials or lecture series. Visiting lecturers include Steve Mosley (Director, Mosley&), Matthew Cockerill (Associate Design Director, Seymourpowell), Marcus Atkin (Director, Out of the Bubble Design), Martin Jones (Retail Lab), and designers and model makers from Redline Studios.
Contact hours
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, group work and self-directed study. Assessment is through coursework (presentations, essays and reports) Your precise timetable will depend on the optional modules you choose to take, however, in your first year you will normally attend around 13 hours of timetabled taught sessions (lectures and tutorials) each week, and we expect you to undertake at least 25 further hours of independent study to complete project work and research.
Facilities and features
Art and design facilities
We offer superb workshops in wood, metal and plastics as well as excellent engineering workshops. You will be supported by specialist technicians who will help you in the use of both traditional and advanced materials and manufacturing processes. You will also learn prototyping and proof of principle techniques to test your ideas during the development process and learn modelling skills to express the detailed function of your finalised designs.
Lively studio facilities allow you to collaborate with a cross-section of students and continue the discourse about your work and the design discipline more broadly.
We continuously develop your computer literacy and you will work on various PC-based 3D modelling and graphic presentation packages using specialist facilities.
Library
The main Kimberlin Library is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (other than in exceptional circumstances) and offers a huge range of online resources, all of which can be remotely accessed from anywhere you choose.
The library is run by dedicated staff who offer additional support to students, including help with academic writing, research strategies, literature searching and reference management and assistive technology, and mathematical skills for non-maths students. There is also a Just Ask service for help and advice, available via email or telephone.
Learning zones
Our comfortable and well-equipped study areas provide a range of environments to suit your needs.
Our Learning Zones and The Greenhouse provide flexible spaces, whether you are working as a group, practising a presentation or working quietly on your own.
They feature workstations with power supplies for laptops, plus bookable syndicate rooms with plasma screens, laptops and DVD facilities. Wi-Fi is available across all campus locations.
Opportunities and careers
Placements
Placements represent an important way of gaining real-world experience that support you to achieve better grades – as well as better jobs with higher salaries upon graduation. They are paid, usually lasting for 12 months and are normally undertaken in the third year. Previous placements include Bosch, BMW, and JCB.
DMU has dedicated resources to help you find placements and provide support if you want to arrange your own. Teaching staff support this further with an extensive network of employers and alumni.
As an alternative to a work placement you can undertake a year-long exchange with a European design school through the Erasmus scheme. Previous students have spent a year in Orleans, France and Stuttgart, Germany.
#DMUglobal
This is our innovative international experience programme which aims to enrich your studies and expand your cultural horizons – helping you to become a global graduate, equipped to meet the needs of employers across the world. Through #DMUglobal, we offer a wide range of opportunities including on-campus and UK activities, overseas study, internships, faculty-led field trips and volunteering, as well as Erasmus+ and international exchanges.
Graduate careers
Graduates go on to work as specialist professionals in a range of industries in roles from designers through to managers. Recent graduates have embarked on careers as designers and design engineers in companies such as BMW, Dyson, Asseal and JCB. The skills you learn will also prepare you for a career in design management, teaching or postgraduate research.
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