Product Design BSc

About the Course

This BSc degree course shares all its first and second year modules with BSc Product Design Engineering, and both contain a balanced blend of creative and technical subjects where mechanics and electronics are taught at a theoretical level.

The Product Design programme combines the concepts of commercial awareness with inspirational thinking and sound technological reasoning. The course has a technical emphasis, meaning students can develop products that both look good and work well.

The degree also emphasises design sensitivity and awareness of market trends, and delves into the science of aesthetic evolution. Modules have a creative bias including graphic design, human factors and environmentally sensitive design.

Our focus is on commercial awareness, technical ability and innovation.

The course suits pragmatic problem solvers who combine their numeracy with the creative motivation to underpin exciting, commercially viable projects with a deep functional and manufacturing understanding.

About Design at Brunel

Brunel’s Design degrees are some of the most renowned and respected in Europe and our students and graduates have won many national and international design awards. All our Honours and Master’s programmes build on a broad base of knowledge, skills and industrial experience. We view the realisation of every aspect of a concept as vital to successful design.

To enable this, we have an extensive cross-disciplinary lecturing team, including mechanical and electrical engineers, computer and materials scientists, mathematicians, psychologists, and practising designers and graphic artists. It is this cross-disciplinary nature that gives our students the knowledge and expertise they require, and distinguishes us from virtually every other Design and Engineering department in the UK.

All our lecturing staff are research or professionally active – sometimes both – which ensures that the content of our programmes is constantly up-to-date and evolving with the commercial worlds of both design and engineering.

Aims

We believe that good design is the combination of commercial awareness and creative and inspirational thought validated by sound technological reasoning, defined through the design process. We produce communicators who are at ease working with members of engineering, design and marketing teams and appreciating their individual needs, and capable of contributing to the total design process.

Design at Brunel University has evolved to meet the needs of industry worldwide, by teaching highly motivated students, through in-depth professional studies, to become imaginative yet practical professional designers.

Enquiries

Admissions Tutor
Stephen Green

School of Engineering and Design
Brunel University
Uxbridge
Middlesex UB8 3PH

Tel: +44 (0)1895 266324
Email: design.information@brunel.ac.uk

Special Features

• Many students take advantage of exchange programmes that can take them to Europe, the USA and Australia.
  
  
• Design students have won many prestigious awards and many students are sponsored by companies, or win sponsorship while on the course.
  
  
• Students frequently work on collaborative projects with industrial partners, including British Airways, Mercedes Benz, Lego and Samsung.
  
  
• We have very close links with industry. This has many advantages for our students in terms of learning opportunities and contacts for your future career.
  

Accreditation

All our design courses are accredited by the Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) to ensure that the courses maintain their academic and commercial relevance.  Student membership of the IED is free and encourages continuous professional development through journals and conferences.  On graduation, students are eligible for full membership, with further career and training options which can lead to Chartered Engineer status.

Facts and Figures

Engineering and Design is one of the largest Schools in the University with over 60 members of staff involved in teaching and research, an undergraduate population of over 800 and a postgraduate population of over 200.

Course Content

The first year of core modules ensures a sound understanding of the technological, creative and practical skills necessary. At Level 3, there is a distinctive change in emphasis towards ergonomics and design for manufacture. Final year projects often pursue consumer durable themes complemented by subjects of a more semantic nature.

Typical Modules

Level 1

• Design Process 1
• Graphic Communication 1
• Workshops with Materials
• Mechanics for Design  
• Electronics and Mathematics
  

Level 2

• Design Process 2
• Graphic Communication 2
• Electronics, Programming and Interfacing
• Design for Manufacture
• Dynamics, Mechanisms and Stress Analysis
  

Level 2 Placement Year

• Professional Practice
  

Level 3

• Major Project (core)
• Innovation Management (core)
• Human Factors (core)
• Environmentally Sensitive Design
• Graphics
• Contextual Design
• Embedded Systems for Design

Teaching and Learning

Expert teaching – You will be taught by experts in their fields. Many of your lecturers will be internationally and nationally recognised for their innovative work.

Practical design projects – We emphasise the application of technology throughout the course, with integrated project work playing a substantial part at all levels. In the earlier part of the course, design focuses on closely defined and monitored tasks which lead to more open-ended projects. As the course progresses, students have more opportunity to develop their own individual strengths and portfolios towards the design career of their choice.

Workshops – Students are guided through a comprehensive workshop practice course as an integral part of their Level 1 studies. This gives you a grounding in production processes and a feel for materials and their potential. Most importantly, you learn the craft skills needed to construct models and prototypes later in your course. Our workshops are a pride to us and our technicians are second to none.

Lectures – These provide a broad overview of key concepts and ideas relating to your course and give you a framework from which to carry out in-depth study.

One-to-one – You will have one-to-one supervision for all project work, throughout all levels. If you go on a placement you will also be allocated an industrial tutor who will help you to set objectives, monitor your progress, and provide further support if you need it. You will also have a personal tutor who is available to discuss both academic and personal problems.

Assessment

Level 1 does not count towards your final degree mark. Level 2 is worth a third, and Level 3 is worth the rest. The final year project is worth a third of Level 3 marks.

Knowledge and understanding are tested by means of a range of assessment tasks, including:

• written and multiple-choice examinations
• laboratory reports
• written coursework
• individual and group design projects
• problem-solving exercises
• oral presentation
• visual media projects
• computer programming exercises

The range of assessment methods listed above will form the basis for assessment throughout the programme. You will be expected to discuss or demonstrate the approaches and methods you used to solve design problems as well as their final solutions. In written-based activities you will be expected to have researched and critically analysed the material gathered, appropriate to the level.

Where practical skills are taught on the programme these will be assessed by coursework requiring the application of the skill in question, eg workshop skills are tested by the production of various artefacts in wood, metal and plastic, and computing skills are assessed by the generation of suitable programs or models depending on the software used.

Reports and oral presentations in various modules assess written and oral communication skills. Self-organised learning is encouraged at all levels of the programme and increases as you progress, but is mainly demonstrated through the undertaking and completion of the Major Project.

Group projects are used in various modules, which will show the ability of students to work in teams. Managing time and resources is demonstrated by professional standards for submitting work by specified deadlines, and late work is penalised in the mark awarded.

Employability

We have an established reputation for producing high quality graduates. Our graduates enjoy superb employment prospects and enter careers in a wide spectrum of environments, including the manufacturing, service and engineering industries, design management and consultancy companies. Many go on to set up their own businesses.

Careers

Our graduates are highly sought-after in a wide range of environments. As well as the prestigious companies who offer work placements to our students, employers of our graduates include:

• Accenture
• Apple Computers
• BAE
• British Telecom
• Dyson
• Eurostar
• Fitch
• Habitat
• IBM
• Land Rover
• Lego
• Microsoft
• Morgan Stanley
• Nokia
• Orange
• RNIB
• The Technology Partnership
• Virgin Atlantic

Placements

Along with the knowledge and skills built during the courses, work placements offer students direct industrial experience of working on ‘live’ design projects with some of the best companies in the world. A high percentage of students choose to take advantage of this year long work placement and this contributes to the excellent graduate employment record of our students.

Our exchange programme allows students to take a work placement abroad in locations such as the USA, Milan, Hanover, Sydney and Antwerp.

Fees for 2012/13 entry

Home/EU students: £9,000 full-time, £6,750 part-time

International students: £13,860 full-time

Brunel is introducing over 1000 new scholarships for 2012, meaning that one in three applicants who join Brunel next year will receive financial support from the University. See our fees and funding page for full details

Fees quoted are per annum and are subject to an annual increase.

Entry Requirements for 2012 Entry

• GCE A-level BBB, including at least Grade B in Design and Technology, Product Design, Art or Art and Design and at least Grade B Maths or Physics (General Studies and Critical Thinking not accepted).
• Irish Leaving Certificate ABBBB, including Grade B in Design and Technology, Product Design, Art or Design and Grade B in Maths or Physics.
• Scottish Advanced Highers BBB, including Grade B in Design and Technology, Product Design, Art or Design and Grade B in Maths or Physics.
• Advanced Diploma Progression Diploma Grade B in Creative and Media, Engineering or Manufacturing and Product Design, plus Maths or Physics A-level at Grade B for Additional and Specialist Learning.
• BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma DDD in a related subject including Maths or Physics modules.
• IBDP 32 points, including 5 in Design and Technology, Product Design, Art or Art and Design and 5 in Higher Level Maths or 5 in Higher Level Physics.
  
• Foundations of engineering see the course page; for external foundation courses, please contact the Admissions Tutor.
• Access Pass in an Art and Design or Engineering subject, including Maths at level 3. All others considered on an individual basis.

For all of the above, 5 GCSEs or equivalent at Grade C or above are also required, to include English and Maths (please note that these must have been gained by the time you submit your UCAS application).

All applicants are required to attend an interview including a portfolio review as part of the selection process before a formal offer is made.

Entry Requirements for 2011 Entry (click to expand)

English Language Requirements

Brunel also offers our own BrunELT English Test and accept a range of other language courses. We also have a range of Pre-sessional English language courses, for students who do not meet these requirements, or who wish to improve their English.