Tomorrow’s inventions today

5 July 2012

Students showcase their creativity at the 2012 Festival of Design and Innovation.

The 20th Festival of Design and Innovation (FoDI) took place between 21-25 June celebrating and showcasing the creations of the Design, Engineering and Computing (DEC).

Products ranging from a rapid towel dryer, to unique tents, to audio effects for djs were on display at this year’s FoDI. The products and designs are produced by students in the school of DEC as part of their final year assessment, and is a culmination of three years theoretical and practical work.

Jim Roach, Dean of the School of Design, Engineering and Computing said: “FoDI showcases students creativity, innovation and allows them to show their ideas to a wider public. It is a celebration of their success and I think that is the important part. They have organised the show, they have set up the stand, and they are presenting their ideas, their concepts. It’s their show.”

Sir George Cox, President of the Institution of Engineering Designers was the key note speaker on the opening night.

He told the students: “In terms of your careers, you couldn’t be starting at a more exciting time. If you were thinking about the golden age, it is yet to come. I’d like to congratulate you on your choice of career and choice of discipline to study.

“The things you are doing here couldn’t be more appropriate, both in career opportunity and society’s needs. Remember, when you are out there and benefiting these opportunities in the world, you are not only living in it, you are shaping it. Congratulations on what you have achieved and I wish you every success in the future.”

Part of the project leading up to FoDI involves the DEC students working with Law students from the Law Department of the Business School at BU and building Lawyer-client relationships.

Dinusha Mendis, Senior Lecturer in Law and Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy and Management (CIPPM) explains: “This whole project is about the design students creating a product and the Intellectual Property (IP) law students advising them. For a product to be marketed and exploited effectively, it needs strong IP protection.

“It is important that the DEC students get the right kind of advice from the Law students in terms of trademarks, copyright, patents and designs to ensure that not only are the products exciting but it is well protected in the market.

“This project is about bringing law to life, and it is the best possible way you can do this; otherwise it is very theoretical.”

The Festival of Design and Innovation, and the project leading up to it has been well received by students from both The Business School and DEC.

Daniel Knight, a Music and Audio Technology student said: “Fodi has been amazing, it is something that hasn?t been done to this scale for my course before. It has been so enjoyable and there has been such a sense of team work. It has been a long road, it has been in production since October, but it has been a lot of fun. It is a slick, professional exhibition, which shows we have more than basic technical skills and that is the thing that will help me the most.”

Hayleigh Bosher, a Law student enjoyed the experience of working with design students and learning the other side of the lawyer-client relationships.

She said: “It is really interesting to see their approach, and our approach. They came to the project with a creative mind set and they looked at the product in a different way to how we looked at it. So it was really interesting to see their different point of view and how they might come to a solution to a problem. We didn?t know much about what they knew, and they didn’t know much about what we knew so it was it was a really interesting exchange of knowledge.”

On the opening night, awards were given to the best students and best group across both schools.