One of the main tasks of an industrial design engineer is making technology available for people. In many research disciplines, certain technologies are invented and developed, but how do you bring these emerging, state-of-the-art technologies to the consumer market, instead of using it for a single, specific product? That’s what the Master’s track in Emerging Technology Design (ETD) is all about.
You acquire knowledge of the latest theoretical breakthroughs in fields like virtual reality, structural dynamics or advanced materials, and learn how to apply these emerging technologies in creating new products or reinventing existing ones. You are trained to become a technology-oriented industrial design engineer, able to integrate technology and design and by doing so, reducing the gap between research environments and markets.
“IT'S THAT EAGERNESS AND ABILITY TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC THEORY AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATION THAT DISTINGUISHES THESE STUDENTS FROM OTHER INDUSTRIAL DESIGN ENGINEERS.”
LEARN TO DESIGN WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
In this track, you learn how to make an expensive technology with a limited field of applicability more suitable for the mass market. Or you might use a new, advanced technology to modify an existing consumer product, making it more economic or creating greater diversity. You don’t just learn to apply the new technologies to the actual product, but also to the development process. For example, new technologies can make it possible to produce in a cheaper way (fewer parts due to friction stir welding) or more advanced (fuel cells, reduced sound).
TECHNOLOGY DIRECTIONS WITHIN ETD
You become skilled in capitalising on the latest research findings, in a field of your choice. This track covers six different fields of emerging technologies. Other than in the other two IDE-tracks, you get to choose a prefixed set of courses related to these technology directions. You also complete your Master’s assignment in this direction. The defined technology directions are:
- Biomedical Product Design (BPD)
Coordinator ir. Edsko Hekman - Smart Environments and Virtual Reality (SE&VR)
Coordinator dr.ir. Maarten Bonnema - Sustainable Technology for Product Development (STPD)
Coordinator ir. Marten Toxopeus - Product and Surfaces (ProSurf)
Coordinator dr. Dave Matthews - Advanced Materials Engineering (AME)
Coordinator dr.ir. Ton Bor - Structural Dynamics, Acoustics and Control (SDAC)
Coordinator prof.dr.ir. Bojana Rosic
Mandatory ETD courses
Two courses (10 EC): 'Sources of Innovation' and 'Surface Engineering for Look and Feel' were especially developed for this track. In Sources of Innovation the students learn how to search for new markets or how to use a SWOT analysis for new opportunities. They learn that when looking for opportunities, weaknesses of a product or material can actually create new opportunities. For example, during the search for new possibilities for a heat-resistant ceramic material, the porosity of the material was considered a weakness. During a brainstorm session, a member of the innovation group suggested to consider this weakness as a strength. This lead to research into sewage plants where the material could be used for bacterial growth to clean the water.
INDIVIDUAL STUDY PROGRAMME ETD
The individual study programme Emerging Technology Design consists of:
- 10 EC - Mandatory ETD courses: Sources of information and Surface Engineering for Look and Feel
- 20 EC - Track-specific courses: selected from the chosen technology direction
- 25 EC - IDE courses: selected from the three IDE Master tracks
- 20 EC - Elective courses: free choice, if substantiated
- 45 EC - Master assignment
All courses are listed in the ISP form which can be found on the canvas page for ETD (IDE Master track Emerging Technology Design).
The coordinator and contact person for this track is Dr. Dave Matthews.
Email: d.t.a.matthews@utwente.nl