First-cycle Education in Product Innovation
Education in product innovation is given through courses and programs at basic, advanced and postgraduate level. The focus of the education is product development and innovation in mechanical engineering (ME), industrial design (ID) and industrial engineering and management (IEM).
Undergraduate Education
Product innovation is involved in courses offered to students mainly in industrial design engineering and industrial engineering. In this way, these programs can make use of current research in courses, and students get clear insight into where the research front lies.
We primarily train with manufacturing industry as a recipient, by focusing on various aspects of product development. The proximity to the research subject is important. Process view on product development, theory and methodology for technical product development and creative methods in the conceptual phase are the main steps that are seen in our courses and programs. The link to topics such as industrial design and entrepreneurship is clear in the areas that concern innovation and overall product development focus.
Product Development Processes | M7014T
The focus of the course is to develop sustainable products through systematic analysis of needs and solutions. Your company receives proposals for the redesign of an existing product or a completely new one, so that it becomes sustainable from an economic as well as a social and ecological perspective.
The students work with an "open ended" problem, i.e. where there is no right answer but they have to evaluate their solution in an engineering way. They initially have to break down an existing product to analyse its function and solution, and then propose a new one. The work is done in project form and students develop skills in product development processes, as well as oral and written communication.
The project assignment from the company may involve developing a new and better solution for an existing product or developing a completely new product. The students' competence profiles are a mix of mechanical engineering, technical design and industrial economics, and they come from both the international master's program and technical design with a production focus, creating interdisciplinary project teams.
Expected Results
Expected results from the project are:
- A new product concept
- Needs and solution analysis for the product
- Presentation material about the product concept
Implementation
The course runs during the autumn (August-October).
- The student groups work individually on the business project for a total of about six weeks.
- Initially, a functional scan is performed (the existing product is taken apart, i.e. decomposition).
- The composition of the group changes in the middle of the course to provide additional insight into the product to be redesigned.
- Results of the new product concept will be presented in mid-October.
- In parallel, the students have lectures, exercises and supervision.
Commitment
The company needs:
Provide a product, preferably one that can be taken apart to be analysed in order to find a better, more sustainable design
- A contact person who can answer questions from the student group.
- Tell us about the company and the industry.
- If possible, but not necessary, attend the presentation at the final seminar.
More information
Contact person: Examiner Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck
A0013A Product and Production Design
The course focuses on the interaction between product and production design, how material choices, design and production methods affect each other. The course teaches a way of working in which market research, product development and development of the manufacturing process takes place in parallel. Where it is possible to use material choices and production choices as part of the innovation process.
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to give the student the opportunity to:
- acquire theoretical and practical knowledge of the interaction between product and production design
- Under realistic forms, gain insight into how design and material choices affect production.
- apply theory, knowledge and methods from previous courses.
Content
The course focuses on the interaction between product and production design, how material choices and designs affect production methods. The course teaches a way of working in which market research, product development and development of the manufacturing process takes place in parallel. The course is a project course where the student, based on a mission description, is to develop / improve a product based on a user perspective in terms of design, ergonomics and manufacturing.
More information
Contact person: Examiner Peter Törlind
M0027T – The Idea Developers: Innovation, Drive and Entrepreneurship
The course aims at supporting students who want and are interested in developing an idea or an identified need and dare to move on to an entrepreneurial spirit. The course spans a wide area and the student is expected to have acquired the ability to understand how multiple areas are connected and contribute in the development process from a business concept to a concept or a finished product.
Course objectives
The objective of the course is to give the student the opportunity to:
- Be aware of current rules for intellectual property protection and evaluate the possibilities for intellectual property protection,
- have an understanding of and be able to use methods and tools for entrepreneurial and innovation processes,
- apply the idea development model presented in the course
- be able to identify and use external resources to realize technical innovation, entrepreneurship and new entrepreneurship,
- critically analyse and evaluate the potential of their own and others' ideas in relation to existing business concepts,
- present the results of their work both verbally and in writing in a clear and professional manner
Content
The course is a project course aimed at giving the student the opportunity to dare to take the step and develop his entrepreneurial potential based on the work of moving from idea to new products and innovations. This is done by supporting the student to develop his / her ability to connect, the ability to listen, understand and bring together different perspectives in groups and skills in visualizing and communicating his message to different people. That is, social skills are important and need to be developed in parallel with the final outcome of the project. In order to develop such social skills so that they contribute to a development project, a practical learning approach is required, in which action and reflection are intertwined.
More information
Contact person: Examiner Peter Törlind
O7015N - Strategic project management
This course aims at supporting students to identify and formulate issues of strategic importance for companies; plan, organize and run strategic business research work; Provide well-founded advice on matters of strategic importance to a company.
Course objectives
The objective of the course is to give the student the opportunity to:
- Identify strategic issues of a company or inventor in the early stages of managing a new service, product, or technology.
- Describe a strategic question based on deep understanding of a real situation
- Plan, organize and run strategic analysis work with others in a company
- Apply within innovation management, business development and strategic analysis commonly used tools and methods for, independently as well as collaborating with others, collecting, assessing and analysing data material as well as compiling strategic decision-making for an enterprise
- Create good advice of strategic importance for the company or inventor.
Content
The course is organized as a consulting company that performs assignments for clients (companies / inventors). The students are "employed" at this company. In this appointment, students will: identify and formulate strategic issues for companies; plan, organize and run strategic business research work; Provide well-founded advice on matters of strategic importance to a company. The course consists of a theoretical part and a practical part.
More information
Contact person: Examiner Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck
M7016T - Creative Concept Development
The aim of the course is to give the students a deeper understanding of creative conceptual development in early stages of technical product development. The student will have insight into methods for identifying user needs and an understanding of how creative methods are used to evaluate and select concepts based on the needs of the student. Students will be able to account for and reflect on the choice of methods and their use as well as their own and group work.
Course objectives
The objective of the course is to give the student the opportunity to develop his / her ability to:
- See different perspectives on creative concept development
- Understand methods for need assessment, concept generation and concept evaluation.
- Understand the factors that influence the creative process
- Evaluate, reflect on and draw reasoning about processes and methods.
Content
The course is structured through scheduled lectures, group exercises, seminars and presentations aimed at increasing the student's ability to drive a creative conceptual development. The student will experience this by practically implementing different types of exercises and methods, then reflecting on the implementation. In the course, guest lecturers from industry will participate.
More information
Contact person: Examiner Peter Törlind
Advanced Model Building
The aim of the course is to provide students with a deeper understanding of different methods of model building by building models and prototypes that work in a broader context, together with other components and where fit, shape and function can be tested.
Course objectives
The objective of the course is to give the student the opportunity to develop his / her ability to:
- Build models and prototypes that work in a broader context
- Reflect on and test fit, shape and function with model construction
Content
The course is based on lectures on different model techniques and different types of models / prototypes. Then the student will be able to apply this in a project form where the students in groups, based on given conditions, create the appropriate model / prototype using the techniques described in the course.
More information
Contact person: Examiner Peter Törlind
D7017A – Product visualisation
In this course, the student will be able to increase his or her knowledge and understanding of how 3D visualization can be used in a development project through photography, lighting, graphic design and computer graphics.
Course objectives
The objective of the course is to give the student the opportunity to develop his / her ability to:
- Show knowledge and understanding of how 3D visualization can be used in all stages of a development project.
- Be able to describe the purpose of selected 3D visualization methods using word and image.
- Have basic knowledge and skills in photography and lighting.
- Have basic knowledge in graphic design and computer graphics.
- Understand the theory and techniques that underlie 3D modelling and 3D visualization.
Content
The course is structured through lectures and seminars aimed at enabling the student to understand visualization through, among other things, digital sketch models, technical illustrations, product animation, photo-realistic 3D-generated images and poster design.
More information
Contact person: Examiner Peter Törlind
General curriculum product innovation
Updated: