A panel of nearly 40 industry representatives reviewed Major Project ideas led by undergraduate Design students from Brunel University last week.
Guests from industry as well as charities involved in design attended the informal event which took place over three evenings at Brunel from Monday to Wednesday. The evenings were organised by DesignPlus, part of WestFocus, a consortium of universities in west and south-west London.
A number of companies who took part received funding from the Economic Challenge Investment Fund to support collaborative projects with the students. The companies, all small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), are required to match the funding by investing time and materials into a project.
Stephen Barker, of colour technology firm LCR Hallcrest, said: "These were projects which we really wanted to do, but never had the time or resources to tackle. For a small company, access to this sort of option for research and development fills a gap between in-house work and bringing in a professional agency."
Another Major Project partner, Adam McDougall of The Lexi Cinema, said, "From our point of view, this sort of project just made absolute sense. Our cinema is about fun, mischief and personality so the opportunity to work with such a great student in developing our brand presence was perfect for us."
The students also found the event useful. Brunel Design undergraduate Nick Sardar said, "I managed to review my work with four professionals from different companies and job roles. This diversity brought up questions over my work that I had previously overlooked.
It was inspiring to meet professionals as, apart from my placement, I have had limited exposure to the industry so far."
Paula Neal, Project Manager of DesignPlus, added, "The event will improve the students’ understanding of design for business and give them an insight into problems they will need to consider whether they are employed in-house or through an agency."
The Head of Design at Brunel, Sharon Baurley, said, "If the concept is successful the companies know that they are likely to be able to keep developing it and maintain continuity through having a successful relationship with the student already in place."
The following companies took part in Designplus Industry Review of Major Projects:
Monday 22 Nov
James Brown, fwdesign Limited, Senior Design Strategist
Nick Marchant, Marchant Associates, Design Consultant MD
Roger Carr, MD
Toby Massey, Design Director
Graham Brett Therefore Product Design, MD
Joe Ferry, IHG, Senior Vice President Global Guest Experience and Design
Ellen Piercy, ReckittBenckiser, Manager, New Technologies Group
Paul Hetherton, PG Gillett, Manager Strategic Opportunities
Jan Newell-Lewis, Senior Designer
Simon Langham, Dyson, Product Marketing
Adam McDougall, The Lexi Cinem
Stephen Barker, LCR Hallcrest, Director of Sales and Marketing
Chris Worrell, SLE
Peter Swan, Meru, Product Development Manager
Steve Stuart, Doorentry Direct Ltd
Ingemar Jonsson, Tom Dixon, Designer
Industrial partner of ECIF Major Projects
Tues 23 Nov
Andy Patsalides, Compass True North, Managing Partner
Julian Swan, Senior Engineer Designer
Mark Hester, Head of Prototyping
James Tanner, Senior Engineer Designer
Neil Tierney, Onzo Ltd, R&D Director
Donald Parr, Velopex
Ben Boutcher West
Natelie Vanns, Nokia, Senior Design Engineer
Dan Shepherd
Neil Gilchrist, Commercial Executive
Lee Harper, Marks and Spencers, Homeware Technologist
Wed 24 Nov
James Lamb, Lamb Industries, Visiting Professor of Innovation
Nick Tyrrell, Rocket Medical, Product Manager R&D
Alun Wilcox, Head of Medical
Marc Tanner, Head of Design
Ian Scrimgeour, Product Design Engineer
Ben Griffin, The Alloy, Principal Designer
Joe Langford, Human Factors Solutions, Consultant
Natalie Vanns, Nokia, Senior Design Engineer
Patrick Hall, Development Director
Paula Zuccotti, Head of Research