Recommended Study Sequence

This unit encourages students to explore the professional responsibilities and challenges faced by Engineers, Designers and Building professionals. Students are introduced to emerging issues and approaches to sustainability and the complex nature of the design problems they will encounter in professional practice. Students engage in a semester-long research and problem solving task that addresses environmental and social sustainability imperatives and fosters fundamental research, design and communication skills. Special emphasis is placed on lifelong learning, academic literacy and professional skills including information literacy, project management, and teamwork which equip students for subsequent academic and professional contexts.

An understanding of how the built environment works is essential to designers and construction professionals. This unit provides an introduction to physical units of measure, tolerance, statics, dynamics and optics. It also introduces students to electricity and magnetism as well as the concepts of momentum, energy, work, power and the operation of motors and machine. Students engage with these concepts through a hands-on learning experience including practical projects and live demonstrations.

Ergonomics is the study of the interaction between people, their living and working environments and the objects they use in those environments. Scientific information and research concerning humans is applied to the design of objects, systems and environments they interact with. A sound understanding of the principles of this applied science allows a designer to develop products, systems and environments with optimum usability, providing increased comfort, pleasure and productivity of the end user/operator. Other interchangeable terms for ergonomics are Biotechnology, Ergonometrics, Human Engineering, Human Factors Engineering and Human Factors.

This unit is designed to assist in the transition from secondary school mathematics to university first year level mathematics, and gradually bring students to the required standard. It provides a sound foundation in basic mathematical tools in the areas of algebra, trigonometry, probability and calculus, which are particularly relevant to first year mathematics and statistics core subjects. The algebra section revises basic arithmetic manipulation before introducing functions, polynomial, logarithmic and exponential functions, solving equations, matrix manipulation and applications. The probability section covers basic concepts of probability, including permutations, combinations and probability calculations. The trigonometry section introduces the concept of angles, trigonometric functions and their fundamental identities. The calculus section includes limits, differentiation, maximum and minimum values, graphing and integration. These mathematical methods and simple concepts are illustrated using practical examples derived from many different subject areas. Students entering without assumed knowledge of HSC Mathematics are advised to take this unit as an elective.

This unit equips students with the fundamental skills that will enable them to use creative design and engineering approaches to solve challenging problems and to understand the design process. Students will be exposed to 2D and 3D visualisation techniques, will learn how to interpret abstract information, and will work on practical projects in an interdisciplinary context. The aim is to provide a common first-year subject that is thematic, rather than discipline-centred and presents students with foundation concepts in engineering and industrial design.

The presentation and promotion of designs in the form of 2D graphics is a necessary component of the overall design process. The ability to apply a wide range of both manual and computer based processes in the production of these graphical images and presentations is essential. The objective of this subject is to introduce students to the industry standard software and hardware employed to generate this type of material, and more importantly this unit exposes students to the techniques used by professionals who currently work in this area of the design community. Industrial Graphics 1 Presentation is part of a sequence of five units that constitute the sub-major in Industrial Graphics and eight units that constitute the major in Interactive Industrial Graphics.

In this unit we explore materials from a design perspective - their properties, qualities, typical applications, their cost and the environmental impact associated with their extraction, use and disposal. We also look at how they can be formed using contemporary and emerging processing techniques - from sand casting to rapid prototyping. Lectures are supplemented with live demonstrations of materials processing techniques and students undertake materials research and a design for manufacture project.

This unit is a survey of the marketing process, introducing students to the marketing concept, strategic and marketing planning, marketing research, consumer and customer behaviour, issues of market segmentation, targeting and positioning as well as all the elements of the marketing mix (product/service, pricing, distribution and marketing communication strategies).

In this unit students are given the opportunity to apply their design and communication skills to generate a wide range of concepts in response to a number of design briefs. Students explore concepts according to aesthetic and functional criteria through hand sketching, rendering and model-making.

Designers prescribe the use of our limited materials resources with every product that transpires from their work. With an informed approach to design, based on a sound knowledge of materials from their origins to their disposal as well how those materials are utilised in existing contexts of use, a designer can maximise the positive impact of their designing on local and global communities. In this unit students will develop an understanding of the central importance of design in developing a more sustainable world on both production and consumption sides. They will reflect critically on their role as both designers and end-users and will exercise their creative intuition to confidently generate and present designs for sustainability. The aim of the unit is to enhance students’ ecological literacy and perception of sustainability as a creative opportunity.

Engineering drawing is the formal graphical communication language used by professionals engaged in design, manufacture and management of manufactured items. This language provides the facility to describe and document three dimensional objects or concepts in two dimensions using linework, characters and symbols. This language is based on guidelines provided by Standards Australia and is compatible with a range of international drawing standards. The aim of this unit is to examine in detail the language and tools used to generate engineering drawings and to provide students with practical skills that will allow them to communicate with other professionals using this language.

Design Studio 2 will develop the ability of students to advance a design concept up to the point of pre-production. The unit explores the often complex influences on a design proposal - from the methods used to identify the needs of people, future purchase patterns, production limitations to price point analysis. It focuses on the integrative nature of the process of designing.

If science and planning march under the banner of “everything is possible”, design culture must know how to point out a path for these potential possibilities, a path that can be completely opposed to that which technological – scientific development has followed up to now. This unit explores the challenges facing design culture in which the designer must now provide scenarios that visualise some aspects of how the world could be and, at the same, time, present it with such characteristics that can be supported by complex ecological equilibria, which are acceptable socially and attractive culturally.

The documentation of design concepts in the form of three dimensional (3D) computer models provides data that can be applied in a wide variety of ways to facilitate the understanding and production of parts and assemblies. The objective of this unit is to introduce students to the industry standard software and hardware employed to generate these models, via a “hands on” approach to creating 3D data. In addition to this, students will be provided with the background history related to computer modelling in general and Feature Based Solids Modelling in particular. Issues such as data transfer, rapid prototyping, computer numerical control (CNC) machining and visualisation will also be discussed.

In this unit, students respond to a set design brief so that they can develop a more comprehensive understanding of the design process – from initial briefing to product realisation. Students first investigate the task from multiple perspectives then generate a wide range of possible solutions. The most promising concept – the most feasible, innovative and appropriate to the specific user and context – is then refined, developed and professionally communicated using a wide range of design techniques and media.

Key learning outcomes include that students: understand manufacturing paradigms and their impact on the product development process and the design process; understand the impact of organisational structures, strategies and processes on the design process; develop and gain experience of using key skills that will enable them to work successfully with various organisational members in the product development process. These skills include teamwork, decision-making and communication, analysis and problem solving. Develop and gain experience of using distance communication and virtual teamwork skills, skills that are becoming increasingly important in new product development.

Design Studio explores the strategies for Industrial Design within the complex and contradictory context of operating as designers in late-industrial cultures. The complexity of designing in Australia for a global economy with local peculiarities will be studied with a particular emphasis on designing for users who are increasingly difficult to know. These same users are also demanding more protection from goods and services they consume and demonstrate increasing doubts about the claims that advertisers make. These factors are bringing new issues into the Industrial Design context. Product innovation with an emphasis on rapid prototyping will form the basis of assessment in this unit.

This unit instructs students in the practical techniques required for designing, conducting and presenting research, in an action-learning environment. Actual research projects based on design-related issues will be explored. A range of research methods will be presented and students will be assisted in the strategic selection of appropriate methods in designing their research. This unit provides a forum for students to bring together and present both the design and results of research. Students will have the opportunity to select and explore their own research topics developed in consultation with the lecturer or tutor, design data collection instruments, analyse data and engage in peer discussions about the significance of their findings.

The Industrial Design Honours Program provides students with an opportunity to apply their industrial design skills to an in-depth year long design research project. In Industrial Design Major Project (Commencement), Honours candidates develop a research plan and methodology that yield design opportunities for conceptual development and resolution (to be carried out in Industrial Design Major Project Completion). In Commencement, candidates produce a comprehensive research design (and seek ethics approval as needed), literature review, preliminary concept explorations and a detailed industrial design brief.

The Industrial Design Honours Program provides students with an opportunity to apply their industrial design skills to an in-depth year long design research project. In Industrial Design Major Project (Completion), Honours candidates respond to the research findings and design brief that they produced in Autumn semester. They undertake detailed design development to resolve and communicate a final design solution, which is publicly exhibited at the end of the year. Their design and research communications present a strong argument for the final design and demonstrate the honours’ candidates capacity to undertake postgraduate design research and to join professional design practice.

Students will gain real-life experience in developing new products within a company or organisation and be exposed to some of the decision-making processes that affect the development process of industrially produced products whilst experiencing the multidisciplinary nature of the interaction of all those involved in the product development process from the conception of the idea to the introduction of a new product to the market place. Students use this opportunity to test the validity of the concepts studied in various course units to date in a real life situation and develop a sense of a company's "culture".

This unit prepares students to be flexible and innovative, with the emphasis placed on design, and its place in and effect on society and people. Students are challenged to respond to a real world design brief focusing on a specific user group and context-of-use. Students undertake desk, field and practical research in order to find design opportunities for detailed development in the second semester of the fourth year program. Peer learning is an important part of the learning experience, as is a user-centred design research approach and is facilitated by an intensive off-campus field trip in the project start-up phase.

Design Management 1 focuses on the development of the product / service audit process and study of a firm's corporate image, identity, brand, and products as perceived by the target groups it aims to reach. Students will study the approach taken to develop a strategic design management plan that guides the way a firm presents itself to its target audience and differentiates itself against its competition in the targeted markets. Foundation design principles involving the evaluation of two-dimensional and three-dimensional design are explored through a series of firm-level case studies of firms with prominent and commercially successful design management strategies.

Starting with a sketch, drawing, physical model, or only an idea, having the ability to accurately model your designs ready for rendering, animation, drafting, engineering, analysis and manufacturing is an essential skill set for designers in all disciplines. The ability to generate 3 dimensional data and in particular, free-form 3D data within a computer and display that data in a range of formats provides a powerful design, visualisation and analysis tool. This unit introduces students to the fundamentals of 3D Wireframe, NURBS Surface and Boundary Representation (Brep) Solids Modelling and then focuses on the tools and processes available for producing a range of image types from these 3D models.

Major Project Completion is the project realisation component of the student’s final year program. The unit offers the student the chance to consolidate the range of methodologies and processes developed and evaluated in Major Project Commencement, that contextualise the principles and practices that will lead to the realisation of their identified design solution. The final design outcome will form part of the final year graduate exhibition. The design solution which students will be developing and submitting for this unit responds to the design brief developed in Major Project Commencement.

In Design Management 2 students will develop, based on the Corporate Image Brief and Research established in Semester 1, a methodology and program to study a corporation's approach(es) to communicate with its market audience. The evaluation of the study leads to the formulation of the corporate identity design strategy and brief. The information summarised in the design brief is then used to establish the corporate identity design program, which informs the development of the components of a client company's corporate identity. The company chosen by the students as a case study in Design Management 1, on which the assignments are based, should be followed through to Design Management 2.

Design Management unit focuses on fundamental issues of design process and design management. It exposes students to the various theories and models underlying trade-offs and choices in design process. Experiential exercises and contemporary case studies are used throughout the unit. Thus, at the conclusion of the unit, students should be able to gain a broad awareness and critical understanding of vital concepts and issues relating to design process; as well as managing intellectual property. This unit is part of a sequence of four units that constitute the sub-major in Design Management and eight units that constitute the major in International Design Management and Innovation Design Management.

The ability to draw on a broad range of industrial graphics skills and techniques and to apply them appropriately to design projects is a cornerstone of the modern design process. It is the aim of this unit to synthesise the components of the industrial graphics strand and provide a single project with a range of components to which these skills can be applied and evaluated. The lecture component of this unit will provide the forum for introducing and demonstrating the latest techniques and technologies in this field while the practical sessions will provide the students with the opportunity to apply their skills.

In 2010 this unit is being replaced by 300735 Automated Manufacturing. This unit covers areas of manufacturing processes, automated production systems and an introduction to CAD/CAM systems. Aspects of automated manufacturing are included and require students to model simple products in CAD and produce CNC toolpath programs by using the CAM part of the system. Also, it involves students using a CNC lathe and mill to manufacture the product. The mechanics of metal cutting in machine tools is included and ties in with cost estimation techniques of manufacturing processes. Tool materials and wear estimation are also covered. Some of the common forms of manufacturing that are included in this unit are metal forming, extrusion, welding, rolling and metal spinning. In addition, automation systems such as flexible manufacturing, robotic cells and mass production methods are described. Computer-aided manufacturing, process planning and robotic assembly will also be covered.

Students will gain real-life experience in developing new products within a company or organisation and be exposed to some of the decision-making processes that affect the development process of industrially produced products whilst experiencing the multidisciplinary nature of the interaction of all those involved in the product development process from the conception of the idea to the introduction of a new product to the market place. Students use this opportunity to test the validity of the concepts studied in various course units to date in a real life situation and develop a sense of a company's "culture".