Second year Product Design students kicked off a joint project with their Chinese counterparts at the Suzhou Art and Design Technology Institute with a group Skype call where all the students and staff met each other and discussed the details of an exciting new project. Paul Denison, Principal Lecturer (International) has been working towards getting the project off the ground for 3 years. The project is called ‘Design for our Future Selves’ and the idea is that students from each institution help each other to research issues around ageing in both China and the UK. They then design products in small groups that are ‘cross cultural’ and suitable to be sold in both markets.
The project is being facilitated by two Chinese students who are studying in the 2nd year and who are acting as translators as well as being team members. It is hoped that all sudents will develop a strong sense of working internationally and that this will help them to develop skill sets which set them apart from graduates in other universities.
