SUMMARY

Industrial Design Center is an open knowledge and ‘research through design lab’. It is a communication platform between the industry and the product design education & research programs offered through Howest University College West Flanders.

Industrial Design Center supports interdisciplinary co-creation between students, teachers and the industry. Its design studio and workshop is fully equipped with manual and rapid prototyping tools such as a 3D printer, a vacuum casting set up, thermoforming equipment, a laser cutter, a materials and creativity tools library, a photo studio, and a lighting lab.

Its annual, 5-day hands-on and international training week is meant for young professionals and those about to graduate who have a passion for creation, co-creation and materialization of ideas.

Video report 2011

Are you interested in tasting different prototyping tools such as quick & dirty prototyping for idea generation, laser cutting, 3D printing, product photography, wood turning, welding techniques, plastic shaping processes, clay modeling, foam modeling, arduino electronics and finishing techniques for 3D models? Be prepared for an intensive week, surrounded by professional coaches. Join our group in 2012.

Prototyping is the shorthand of design. “Prototyping is problem solving. It’s a culture and a language. You can prototype just about anything – a new product or service, or a special promotion. What counts is moving the ball forward, achieving some part of your goal. Not wasting time”. Tom Kelley, general manager IDEO.

PARTICIPANTS

This summer school is addressed to young professionals, graduates, students and PhD-students from several creative-technical disciplines, including:

  • industrial/civil engineering
  • product design
  • architecture
  • mechanical design
  • applied arts
  • interaction design,…

TESTIMONIALS

Read some reflections on the workshops in 2011:

  • “A friend of mine is running a product development course in Aalto Design Factory and he recommended the summer school to me. As a graphic designer I felt that this was a perfect opportunity to widen my skills in 3D prototyping related to packaging design. I’m writing my PhD about multisensory packaging design as a form of communication. I’m interested in packaging design not just from the visual communication aspects, but I investigate also how other sensory cues can be used as a means of communication, building understanding and meaning to products through their packaging solutions. This course was useful to me since I normally work with long-standing packaging materials such as cardboard and paperboard.” Markus Joutsela (Finland)
  • “I’ve never seen people working with so much passion, enthusiasm and happiness. I had a wonderful week, I learned a lot of things, and it’s been one of the best experiences I ever had.” Lorenzo Banchini (Italy)

Picture gallery 2011

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Howest Industrial Design Center

Creative Prototyping Summer School
September 3rd - September 7th 2012
Howest Industrial Design Center, Kortrijk (Belgium)

3 ECTS credits
Registration deadline: 20th of July 2011
English spoken

PRICE (€ 550/person)

Included:

  • courses (+ all prototyping materials)
  • group transports
  • swimming pool entrances
  • breakfast–lunch–dinner from Sunday evening till Friday noon
  • drinks during the day (coffee-tea-water)
  • free space to install your tent at our temporary camping in the park just besides our building

Not included:

  • accommodation (other than campsite cf. housing and stay)
  • the security for your locker and a bike on loan from Sunday till Friday. You’ll have to provide a security of 5€ for the locker and 50€ for the bike, but you get this money back at the end of the week when bringing back the key of the locker and the bike.