Discover Industrial Design

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Ian De Vere: Hello, my name is Ian De Vere, and I'm the Associate Dean of Industrial Design here at RMIT University. 

Today, I'm going to talk to you about the industrial design undergraduate program. This program is 

world renowned and is the oldest industrial design program in the southern hemisphere, and one of the oldest and most influential in the world. It has a flexible curriculum that allows students to work across a variety of specialist disciplines, to replicate the real world experience they will need once they start their careers. In this presentation I'll be sharing with you the core structure, how we work with industry, pathways to entry and career outcomes. I'm disappointed you are not able to come onto campus to experience our facilities and meet staff and students face to face, but I'm happy to share with you the wonderful virtual exhibition our students have created to showcase their semester one work. You can find that exhibition www.industrialdesignexhibition.com. Thank you. 

Before I start, I'd like to acknowledge the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nations on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the university. RMIT respectfully acknowledges their ancestors and elders, past, present and emerging. And while we conduct our work remotely I want to pay my respect to the traditional custodians of all lands across Australia. 

Industrial design is a creative, user centric, problem solving practice and has the ability to affect change and create powerful solutions that improve both human and environmental health and well-being. For over 70 years industrial design at RMIT has offered aspiring designers challenging experiences through technical, theoretical, and applied immersions into the diverse and dynamic fields of industrial design practice. In collaboration with industry partners the program challenges conventional paradigms, and asks students to respond to social and environmental challenges and explore technological advances. 

For recent school leavers you're required to meet the following minimum academic requirements, of successful completion of an Australian year 12 or equivalent with a minimum ATAR of 54, excluding adjustments, including units three and four with a study score of at least 30 in English EAL, or at least 25 in English, other than EAL. All applicants are also required to complete a selection task, which includes an applicant statement outlining what your passions for design are and why, how will industrial design at RMIT assist you to achieve your vision? So that's about 350 words. We also ask for a folio of three to five projects or activities that demonstrate the breadth and depth of your interests and experience. This could include projects undertaken with informal study, or hobbies, or volunteer or paid work, or any relevant activity that gives an insight into your design capabilities. 

What we're really looking for is to understand your potential to be a creative and innovative designer. We're not looking for specific skill set, we will teach you that, we're just looking for that potential. To apply for industrial design at RMIT, please head to the RMIT website for specific details. For applicants who have completed other courses or degrees, or for those who have decided to return to study as a mature student, we have a variety of pathways for you to apply to our degree. We also have vocational education diploma courses in product design and furniture design, then have advanced entry into the industrial design honours program. Please visit the RMIT website for specific information. 

The industrial design undergraduate program at RMIT is a four year course with an embedded honours year. Each semester, students will undertake studies in design theory, develop technical skills and apply these learnings with a studio course. The studio courses are the backbone of the industrial design course, as they provide a unique opportunity to explore ideas by challenging designers through constantly changing and evolving course offerings. The studios are led by academics and also by practising leaders from design firms. Many student studios have partnered with the industry to emulate professional working environments. These design studios focus on four main areas, service orientation where the focus is sustainability, social innovation, health transport, and community engagement, technological orientation where the focus is universal design and ergonomics, manufacturing, technical innovation and prototyping, object orientation where the focus is furniture, lighting and objects for the home, and digital orientation where the focus is on emerging digital technologies, computerated design, and coding and interaction design. The final year of the program is an embedded honours year where you'll undertake a complex design research project. This self directed project will showcase the skills and knowledge developed during the degree and demonstrate your abilities to the broader design industry and community. 

Industrial design students benefit from access to extensive studios, prototyping workshops, and specialists labs, which we use for CAD and electronics at both City and Brunswick campuses. Unfortunately, we're not using these resources at present as all classes are being conducted online. Making is an integral part of industrial design as is product visualisation using advanced CAD, and digital sketching on Wacom tablet monitors. We also have access to advanced fabrication technology and robotics. In industrial design we have a very strong industrial design student community, which is centred around our own studio, teaching building on Lygon Street where classrooms and breakout spaces have direct access to workshop and labs. 

The industrial design program has a high industry involvement across all levels of the program. Students from first year will be presenting to industry professionals in their studios. This practice has continued throughout the program. Studios in second and third year are often partner with industry so that the challenge is faced within that industry and design processes are emulated, enabling students to develop an industry informed design practice. Further to this the industrial design program has an active internship program, which provides the support and acknowledgement for students to work in industry, gaining invaluable learning experiences. Finally, the program has a strong exhibition culture where student work has shown at the completion of each semester, and also annually for the graduate projects. These exhibitions are a fixture of the Melbourne design calendar and are highly frequented by industry professionals, offering students unique networking opportunities. 

As I mentioned earlier, industry partnerships are the foundation of our program and all studios are partnered with an industry partner. Recent studio partners include Australia Post, Victoria Legal Aid, Sustainability Victoria, Peter Mac Hospital, the Olivia Newton John Cancer Hospital, Bendigo Hospital, Maynard Design, the City of Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria and the City of Barcelona. 

I'd just like to share some examples of student work with you to show you the diversity of the practice that we do in industrial design. This first slide is a project that I led working with the City of Barcelona, where we tackled mobility issues in Barcelona with a particular focus on the use of e-scooters within their crowded inner metropolitan area of Barcelona. This was a fantastic project because we did the majority of the work in Melbourne, but then we had a week intensive workshop in Barcelona. So students got to experience that culture and then present their designs directly to staff from the City of Barcelona. And in this project, students came up with an automated smart navigation system for scooters that utilises real time crowd tracking to navigate e-scooters around congested pedestrian areas to enhance public safety. So using a very high tech digital solution to make sure that the scooters and pedestrians weren't interacting in these really crowded, narrow lane ways. 

This project is really interesting, this is a project where the student challenged male behaviours in terms of women's perception of safety on the streets of Melbourne. And what it is is an educational campaign and a toolkit, which raises male behavioural and situational awareness so that their actions, you know, there's often their unconscious actions are less threatening to women, and also included a workshop for city planners to help them guide their design and planning decisions. 

This project, Project Flock is an interactive cycling light. And what it is is an active lighting system that's installed on a bicycle to project light onto the user and the immediate surrounding surfaces. It actually adjusts for different lighting and environments to maintain optimal visibility without blinding drivers which a lot of bike lights do. 

This is a lightweight backpack, which has been intelligently designed to transform into a provisional shelter while still maintaining functionality to house belongings. So it's a backpack, but it's also a tent. It's quick and easily erected, it's a wearable survival system that offers weather protection whilst addressing the psychological impact of being caught out literally in a potentially hostile setting. And this is a great project by Caroline that was exhibited in the Hong Kong Business of Design week. 

This design, the Atmos Orb, is a tool which provides retailers with the ability to implement atmospheric interactions in a multi-sensory retailing environment to create more meaningful and rich customer experiences. 

This project is really interesting. Madison created a new material made entirely from scrap iceberg lettuce leaves. So this project really tackles two issues, the issue of food waste and also the issue of unsustainable packaging solutions. 

This is an amazing project, incredible solution that the student has designed polyurethane tire that fits over a standard wheelchair wheel and enables the wheelchair to leave pavements and go onto beaches and through snow. And by working really closely in a co-design environment with a wheelchair user, this design really brings mobility and independence to wheelchair users, and it's been highly recognised. It won the James Dyson award, the Premiers Design Award and the Next Gen category award winner at the Australian Good Design Awards. 

Industrial design has an extensive global network, which offers a variety of opportunities for students. Industry partners for industrial design include Chiba University in Japan, the Cologne International School of Design in Germany, Brunel University in London, and Shanghai University in China. RMIT Europe is based in Barcelona and offers the opportunity for many European based projects and international study tours. For industrial design in the past 12 months, our students have travelled to and worked on industry projects in Germany, Spain and Japan. 

Industrial design graduates work in a broad range of contexts and settings relevant to new enterprise development, design innovation, and the development of contemporary cities. They can find work in product and manufacturing companies and consultancies in entertainment, education, cultural and services sectors, and research institutions. Cross-disciplinary designers work in emerging fields of design practice, others start and run their own design or product producing businesses. It's important to understand that industrial design is not just about designing products for manufacturer. There are many new and emerging fields of practice for industrial designers, including service design, experience design, social innovation, design for health and well-being, design for sustainability and interaction design. And we also get to utilise amazing new technologies to realise our design solutions. This course also prepares graduates to take masters by research or PhD after successful completion of the degree. 

For prospective students wishing to commence study in semester one, 2021, selection task details and submission dates will be available on the 2nd of August, 2020. Be sure to check the RMIT website for updates. 

Thank you for taking the time to learn about our globally recognised industrial design program, the program that has been running continuously since 1949. There's never been a better time to study industrial design, the world is facing huge social, health, and environmental challenges that industrial designers are well equipped to respond to. If you want to make a real and tangible difference in the world we live in, studying industrial design is a really great place to start. For more information on this program be sure to check the program information available on our website. And I hope that you find time to visit our virtual exhibition and attend the online chat sessions. Thank you. 

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