Index
Industrial Design research and publications
Research in Architecture and Design
Ways of Working Together: Project Diabetes, a Case Study in Multi Disciplinary Project Based Learning
Project Diabetes involved 55 undergraduate students and 8 teaching staff from five disciplines within the HEd and TAFE sectors of RMIT including Industrial Design, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Product Design, along with the community partner Diabetes Australia (Victoria). The project was based on a common design brief where students worked in teams in a shared physical space to develop an innovative design solution to a problem that was identified as significant to people with diabetes. A representative for the industry / community partner Diabetes Australia (Victoria) acted as an agent for the diabetic health and manufacturing industries and the diabetic community networks and interacted with the teams including providing each team with individual feedback about their final design solution. The attached Evaluation report (PDF, 140kb (Opens in new window) presents a thorough assessment of lessons learned and includes suggestions for other staff establishing multidisciplinary design projects.
Project Contact: Project Leader, Associate Professor Soumitri Varadarajan
Greenhouse Gas Reduction in Industry: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Project-Based Learning
Five multidisciplinary student teams each comprising three final year undergraduate students were formed to work on projects with local firms. Teams investigated, evaluated and made recommendations on initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases by enhancing energy efficiency, reducing waste and/or using renewable energy. The students were drawn from the final year of programs in engineering (including mechanical engineering), social science (environment), industrial design and business management.
The industry and community partners and their projects were selected on the basis of the projects offering sufficient scope for students to contribute their discipline-specific knowledge and skills. The partners were identified with the assistance of NORTHLink, the business networking organisation in the northern region of Melbourne. RMIT Property Services was one of industry partners. The multidisciplinary projects were sold to the partners with the idea that students would investigate behavioural and organisational solutions as well as the traditional engineering solutions. A representative from each firm was appointed as the main contact person for each team. This representative guided their team in defining the project and provided the necessary information and resources for students to undertake the project. More details available from the Evaluation report (PDF 251kb (Opens in new window).
Project Contact: Malte Wagenfeld, Senior Lecturer