Course details
On this course you will be taught by a range of staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This will include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners, demonstrators, technicians and research students. You will also benefit from regular guest lectures from industry.
Contact hours and assessment
Details of the assessment methods and contact hours for each unit of the course can be found in the programme specification.
Year 1
Core units
Team Project: You will engage in collaborative team work across the design disciplines to generate a wide range of design ideas, concepts and solutions in response to set design briefs, and effectively present to different audiences to communicate your ideas.
Design Communication: You will develop understanding of the principles of idea generation, design communication and presentation through a range of media. You will explore form and function through manual presentation techniques, apply digital image manipulation, develop part and assembly mock-ups through computer modelling and develop engineering drawings for technical presentation.
Materials and Technology A: You will learn to apply a range of fundamental mathematical and engineering principles to analyse basic product design problems. Lab sessions will develop your ability to select, test and exploit materials and manufacturing processes in the synthesis of product design solutions.
Materials and Technology B: This unit will further develop your knowledge of a wide range of materials and their basic properties in order to understand how these properties may be exploited or modified to satisfy a design requirement.
Design Projects 1: The unit aims to develop a holistic approach to design that is creative, dynamic and structured, thereby encouraging the development of creative and analytical thinking in design. You will create a physical and/or digital model, prototype or visual and present the results in a professional manner.
Design Studies 1: This unit will develop your understanding of contextual and historic design issues and perspectives and your understanding of the application of psychology and physiology for effective ergonomic product design.
Year 2
Core units
Manufacturing and Technology: This unit aims to further develop your understanding of the properties and uses of functional materials, providing you with the sound knowledge and understanding of modern manufacturing for competitive product development. You will also develop your working knowledge, understanding and application of an increased range of physical and technological principles relevant to the design of components, machines and products.
Product Design Tools: This unit will broaden your understanding and application of the principles of product design visualisation, presentation, tools and techniques.
Product Design Projects 2A: You will develop your ability to satisfy both the technological and humanistic needs and requirements of a product in the context of current social, economic and manufacturing requirements and regulations.
Product Design Projects 2B: You solve increasingly complex design problems and expand your ability to employ materials, media, techniques, methods, technologies and tools associated with product design through drawing, modelling, computer visualisation and physical prototyping using skill and imagination.
Management and Commercialisation: This unit will introduce you to the key aspects of business and management that relate to the development and delivery of commercial value, and the issues facing business functions such as marketing, operations and finance.
Design Studies 2: This unit will build on the design experiences in the first year, developing your sensitivity and awareness to aesthetics of design and efficient methods surrounding the product design and development process.
Placement Year
You will complete a minimum 30-week industrial work placement which can be carried out anywhere in the world. You'll get an opportunity to include a period of academic study during this time. The placement year offers a chance to gain experience and make contacts for the future.
You'll choose either the BA (Hons) or BSc (Hons) option during your placement year. The BSc option has more focus on the technological areas of design, while the BA option has more focus on the humanistic and contextual issues of product design.
Year 4
Core units
Advanced Technology: This unit will provide you with the understanding and professional competence required for design of products for structural integrity and reliability, and the ability to predict the performance and reliability of products in service.
Design Studies 3: You will further build on knowledge built in your first two years, exploring the synergistic relationship between product design aesthetics and ergonomics. The unit will enable you to make informed ergonomic decisions through the application of psychology and physiology.
Business Development: Approaches to strategic management and thinking will be examined to capitalise on your entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen.
Product Design Projects 3: This unit aims to synthesise the broad range of skills and understanding gained during the whole course to identify, develop and solve a Product Design problem, in a professional manner.
Product Design Prototypes: This unit will enable you to gain in depth knowledge of prototyping material and techniques, manufacture your own advanced product prototype.
Final Year
Core units
Competitive Product Development: You will look at a broad range of business factors including political, social, environmental pressures and others affecting competitive product development within domestic and international markets. Additionally you will establish best practice surrounding strategic marketing, product design, manufacturing and product sourcing, and the benefits of partnerships within the supply and distribution chains.
Design Thinking: In this unit you will encapsulate a research based approach to investigate the latest ideas surrounding advanced design methods and user experience design to move products from a physical viewpoint to one of also seeing the product as a service, taking the product into the virtual and the interfaceless.
Interdisciplinary Group Project: This unit will develop essential management skills required to lead a professional team towards a successful solution of a technical problem. You will also develop strategies for team building and conflict resolution on a holistic approach to management.
Life Cycle Management: This unit consolidates your knowledge of sustainable design issues through the means of materials optimisation and life cycle techniques, including the quantification of environmental impacts during the life cycle of a product/service from cradle to grave. You will also demonstrate application of financial, economic and social legislative and environmental factors to product design, and the impact of a positive ethical conduct to design practice.
MDes Project: In this unit you will critically investigate and report on a particular product design issue in depth, considering recent research findings and industrial experiences. You will develop and engage in project proposals, planning, experimental design and analysis techniques, and be able to independently select appropriate strategies to successfully execute an independently-conducted product design project.
