BSc Hons Product Design & Innovation

Why this course?

Product design is an exciting industry that continually evolves alongside technology, product advancements, the demand for quicker turnaround times, unique and personalised products and environmentally friendly supply chains and production.

Product design is about understanding people and their emotional connections with products, questioning existing ways of doing things and seeing opportunities to change things for the better.

Product design and innovation encompasses a variety of skills including an engineering theoretical understanding with marketing, branding, user experience, entrepreneurship and provides our graduates with all of the skills to successfully benefit both their own ventures or to become innovators within other businesses.

This is integrated with manufacturing processes, CAD, rapid prototyping and digital prototyping technologies, software and practical skills to turn the design into reality which is fundamental to global market success and requires not only customer appeal, aesthetics and brand awareness but also consistent and correct functionality, superior quality and fitness for purposes all at a competitive price.

Your classes will focus on developing your understanding of business, including customer experience, product interaction and brand loyalty, for example:

• Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
• New Venture Planning
• Innovation Management
• Design Emotion Experience
• Design Interaction

As well as looking at production and manufacturing techniques as well as product design and development, for example:

• Total Design
• Technology Concepts
• Product Prototyping
• Product Development
• Production Techniques
• Advanced Product Design and Manufacture

You'll have core knowledge of the design process, ensuring that well-designed products are suited to particular companies and markets and can compete both locally and globally. You’ll also develop a wide range of aesthetic, graphic communication, analytical and practical skills to overcome the problems encountered when turning a good idea into a best-selling product

During the fourth year of your course, you'll undertake an industrial group project. This will help you to develop and apply your skills as a product designer in the real world.

The Industrial Group Project will give you the opportunity to work as part of a team. You'll develop your people, project management and leadership skills. You'll do this by applying your skills and knowledge to address a practical problem for an industrial client, gaining direct industry experience. The Industrial Group Project works in conjunction with major organisations that face challenges with the management of product design projects and have a demand for the skills gained from this course.

Through this module, you'll gain experience to add to your CV, develop skills, manage a project through to completion and practice working in a multidisciplinary group preparing you for collaborative work throughout your future career.

We work with, on average, 50 organisations per year and previous students have worked with companies such as:

• Adidas
• Airlie Ice Cream
• Alexander Dennis
• Allied Vehicles
• Belle Bridal
• Chivas Brothers Ltd
• Drink Baotic
• HATSUN Agro Products (India)
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Johnstons of Elgin
• NCR
• Promedics Orthopaedics
• Rolls Royce
• RSPB Scotland
• Terex Trucks
• Spirit AeroSystems (Europe), Inc
• Unilever
• Weir Group
• WEST Brewery