A blog about design at the OU.
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Designing in an uncertain future
Designers want to generate products that meet their users’ needs and that delight them for a long time. Some products, like trains or aircraft, have life spans of many decades. However, components or subsystem can endure for much longer as they are used across many product generations. Something that is designed now might well be […]
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E-bikes charging ahead?
Has the time for e-bikes – electrically assisted cycles – arrived at last? E-bikes have been available for many years, and popular in China and parts of continental Europe, but only bought in small numbers in the UK. It’s only now that proper design thinking, research and development has been applied to them. Evidence for […]
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3D printing; What is it good for?
3D printing, technically referred to as additive manufacturing, is often heralded as the manufacturing process of the future. This is because it is a very flexible process, and is able to produce forms that cannot be manufactured using traditional methods. In theory anything that can be represented as a 3D model in a CAD file […]
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What’s new in aircraft design?
This week I attended the Royal Aeronautical Society 6th Aircraft Structural Design conference (https://www.aerosociety.com/events-calendar/6th-aircraft-structural-design-conference/) hosted at ‘We the Curious’ in Bristol. The conference aimed to address the challenges faced by designers of next generation aircraft, including environmental constraints, advanced manufacturing and materials as well as new design approaches. Smart and efficient mobility with reduced environmental impact […]
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Envisioning Futures of Design Education
Do you know how design should be taught in the future? Our recent paper in the journal Dialectic reports on a workshop we held with a group 6 design educators and 40 international participants to explore the future of design education. To spark off the discussion, the 6 design educators presented 4 provocative future […]
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Blindekuh
This summer, I finally had a chance to visit Blindekuh. Blindekuh is a restaurant in Basel, Switzerland, but more than that it is a unique experience. On arrival, you need to lock everything that is light emitting away, your phone, your watch, etc. Then, you have a look at the menu in the waiting area. […]
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PhD Fellowship Opportunities at the Energy DTA
Energy research opportunities at The Open University (OU) through the DTA3 COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowship Programme. The OU is a partner on the successful bid for the ‘Extended University Alliance Doctoral Training Alliances (DTA) in Energy, Applied Biosciences for Health and Social Policy called The DTA3 COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD Fellowship Programme. This is […]
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Learning about design and technology
Learning about design and technology: It is not true – there is such a thing as a free course! Design and technology are increasingly ubiquitous concepts. This is reflected in several recently launched free OpenLearn Courses in areas relevant to engineering, software and industrial design. ——-Find out more TT284 An introduction to web applications architecture An introduction […]
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Getting good social design to happen
Georgy Holden’s post last week got me thinking. Do have a look at it. Georgy made a link between the philanthropic housing activities of the 19th century ‘model village’ builders and the lessons for today with the push for the private sector to build vast amounts of new homes. She is so right that there […]
