South East Technological University (SETU) hosts the 52nd annual Product Design Innovation Exhibition in the Haughton Building at the Kilkenny Road Campus in Carlow, from 24 to 31 May.
The exhibition showcases innovative product designs in a wide spectrum of areas, including physical rehabilitation, sports equipment, physical development analysis, consumer electronics and more. While the show primarily focuses on the final year work of the product design students, it will also feature sample work from the other undergraduate design years. These products include lighting design, headphones, and leather products.
As a human-centred discipline, product design is all around us. We interact with products from the moment we wake, to the time we go to sleep. Good product design can improve people’s lives, make difficult tasks easy, help fit new technologies and materials to human need, and bring joy to people’s lives.
The Product Design Innovation programme at SETU equips learners with the skills of the future that are transferable to many disciplines. Problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, communication across stakeholders, leadership skills, and working as a team are all key skills developed via SETU’s product design courses. Learners must begin by identifying a problem, by talking to and observing people. The problem, its environment, and the stakeholders involved, are researched to provide real insight. The learners must then design a solution that addresses this problem in a creative, empathic, user-centred way.
Speaking about the exhibition, Hilary Dempsey, Product Design Innovation programme director from Department of Humanities at SETU in Carlow, commented, “This, the 52nd annual design exhibition, is a long tradition held up by the product design programme here at SETU. The public exhibition is deeply rooted in studio-based education methodologies and is seen as a steppingstone to students’ future design careers. it also offers industry the opportunity to see what is happening in design education.”
“The product design programme uses the exhibition to promote both the programme and the ground-breaking work happening at SETU. This year we are very proud of what our students have achieved. We would urge anyone that is interested in the programme and who want to know more, to come in and see the work, talk to the students, and staff, and have a tour of the facilities. You would be very welcome” continued Mr Dempsey.
The exhibition is open from Wednesday, 24 May at in the Haughton building at SETU’s Carlow Campus and runs until Wednesday, 31 May. The event is open to the public and has no entry fee. If you are a student thinking about a career in design, a company looking for a design graduate, or simply someone that has an interested in design, please join us. See the exciting designs, the depth of work undertaken by our students, and be inspired.
For more information on product design courses, visit setu.ie