Industrial Product Design
Qualifications
Overview
Industrial Product Design is one of three majors of the Bachelor of the Product Design degree combining creative innovation with technical and business skills.
The products that we use in everyday life, such as mobile phones, mobility devices, espresso coffee machines, sports equipment, toys and games, microwave ovens, or bicycles, all share elements in both design and usability. This major will teach you how to design and deliver suitable products that solve problems and generate consumer interest.
You will also develop key skills in product design such as design, sketching and computer-aided design, fluid flow, power and energy, and materials selection that is ergonomic, functional, appropriate, and appealing. You will gain a practical understanding of the product design lifecycle – from idea generation through to prototyping and commercialisation.
Industrial designers are problem solvers. They are critical and imaginative, express artistic and practical skills, are able to communicate and work well under pressure, are open to criticism, and can sell an idea to any client.
- UC’s Te Kura Hanga Otinga | School of Product Design brings together creative design, science, engineering, and business studies. There are opportunities to apply your learning through team-based projects, entrepreneurship courses, and the use of dedicated, hands-on product innovation spaces.
- UC has a range of state-of-the-art facilities to assist students through the product design process, including an industrial 3D printer, and testing laboratories.
Students should ideally have at least 14 credits in Level 2 NCEA science and mathematics (or the IB/CIE equivalent of these).
UC offers a major in Industrial Product Design as part of the Bachelor of Product Design.
At all levels, students will undertake significant hands-on projects, working in teams and individually, to design and test prototypes to the level needed to launch or pitch a new product concept to a client or investor.
Industrial Product Design major
To complete a major in Industrial Product Design within the Bachelor of Product Design, you will need to take the following courses throughout the degree:
100-level
- PROD 111 Materials Science for Design
- PHYS 101 Engineering Physics A: Mechanics, Waves, Electromagnetism and Thermal Physics or PHYS 111 Introductory Physics for Physical Sciences and Engineering
200-level
- PROD 211 Materials Engineering and Selection
- PROD 212 Thermofluids
- PROD 213 Industrial Product Design 1A
- PROD 214 Industrial Product Design 1B
- ENME 201 Design Communication
- ENME 221 Engineering Design and Manufacture
300-level
- PROD 311 Drawing and Solid CAD Modelling
- PROD 313 Industrial Product Design 2A
- PROD 314 Industrial Product Design 2B
- One 200-level Engineering or Science course
- One 300-level Engineering or Science course
Graduates will be able to deliver creative product designs while also leveraging their knowledge of related sciences and engineering disciplines, in parallel with practical and commercial business skills.
Combining engineering and science with creative design and business will help you to forge a vibrant career with unlimited possibilities, as industrial designers can work across many different industries and sectors. You can work globally in the design departments of large manufacturing companies, product design or engineering consultancies, or have the possibility to be self-employed with your own company.
Other example areas include furniture design, toy design, electronics, packaging design, medical design, consumer goods, digital design, automotive industries, design research, and recreational sports equipment.
Find out more about what you can do with a degree in Industrial Product Design.
Contact us
Te Kura Hanga Otinga | School of Product Design
Phone +64 3 369 4271 or +64 3 369 4272
Email productdesign@canterbury.ac.nz
Location
Len Lye building – see campus maps
Postal address
Te Rāngai Pūkaha | College of Engineering
Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand
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