Teaching is an area that should be in a constant ongoing development or should at least be a processquestioned and revised according to the fact that the society, the students and new knowledge aboutteaching methods are not static. Whether teaching needs to change in terms of how it can enhancestudent learning opportunities must always be subject to an ongoing process. This article describes thisneed and how changes are made to improve students learning in one of the courses in the IndustrialDesign engineering program. The set up in a program like this is a compromise between two differentprofessions as in this case between mechanical engineers and industrial designers. This is a challengethat is tainted with some problems. One of these problems is to accommodate both professions in thesame application. These compromises are never optimal solutions and this have the result that somesubjects have to disappear or be minimized from each profession. Traditionally design trainingprograms contains more of hands on education than machine engineering programs and students inindustrial Design programs are also expected to have some basic knowledge already when applyingwhen applying to their educational program. Some examples of hands on courses as Model makingand sketching cannot be studied only as theory, skills in this case needs training and also timeprovided to allow the knowledge to mature. This article describes an attempt to improve this twoprofession trade-off and how to improve learning in both practical skills and theoretical skills by anew course design. The article also shows how this example could be of interest for other programsand other courses.

In the manufacturing industry, one essential contribution to sustain high competitiveness is successful regular implementation of advanced manufacturing technology. Barriers of different sorts could interfere with this implementation. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there are barriers to implementation of laser welding technology and how they affect the implementation process. Eleven small manufacturing companies, mainly in northern Sweden and Finland, are interviewed regarding their experiences with implementation of laser welding technology. What is clear is that this is a more complex question than just lack of money. The study shows other underlying barriers to have more influence on the lack of implementation. Many of the barriers are connected with organization and management. Identifying these barriers and when they occur in the implementation process may improve implementation efficiency.

New technology implies improved efficiency. This potential is not always realized. It has been observed that implementation of new technology within Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, (SMEs), is not as widely spread as it could be. There are several likely grounds for this, e.g. difficulties to keep up to date on the latest technology, financial grounds due to expensive technology and uncertainty regarding what gain one would get from the new technology. Looking at technology implementation, a major part of the failed implementation attempts are caused by non-technological reasons, such as organizational and human reasons. Visualizing the expected result and also the implementation process to the SME prior to the actual implementation, the communication is much more direct and the actions the SME has to perform before, during and after the implementation is made clear. When implementing new technology, the information process is crucial. This paper discusses the value of communicating the entire process and the results thereof when evaluating a technology for eventual implementation. The results is viewed in two ways, first the realization of the products whether they meet the needs of the companies or not, second the actual realization process is developed and analysed to suit each company.

Design is a learning process and the use of prototyping activities for the sake of learning increases thedesign thinking, i.e. the dialogue and feedback on ideas. Hence, representations ranging from sketchesto different kind of models and animations are recommended to be used as prototypes to mediate userneeds and to support communication within the team. Low-fidelity prototyping enables rapidvisualisation of ideas, reframes failures into learning, generates perceptual progress and supportscreativity. In product design, different visualisation techniques are used to generate and communicateideas since thinking visually is seen as necessary for innovation.This paper describes the work of developing a course where you combine the task of workplace designwith traditional industrial design visualisation methods like sketching, model making and 3Dcomputer aids. By using the knowledge and experience from product design and incorporate it intoworkplace design, a process where all parties contribute in new ways could be achieved.In the course the students start by performing an individual investigation of the present research frontfor production visualisation by summarizing and analysing a number of scientific articles. A workplace design project was then performed where exploratory, explanatory and persuasive visualizingtechniques were implemented. Through a creative and constructive collaboration across disciplinaryboundaries, Industrial Production Environment and Industrial Design, we have created andimplemented a course in an area that has been lacking in our Master Program.

The quest for enhancing student motivation, commitment and performance in higher education is anever-present struggle for university teachers. Of course, the hunt for a good grade is something that isvery central for students, but as a teacher you would like to reach further and find a deeper, morepersonal motivation within each student. A hypothesis that was investigated was that students willaccept high demands if they are clearly defined and presented directly in the beginning instead ofbeing introduced gradually during the course. In the present course, a team of six teachers was puttogether in order to be able to handle the students’ need for coaching and support. The course includedmultiple sub-deadlines concluded by status presentations, called Design Reviews, where the groupsupdated the teaching team and other groups on the project’s progress. The Design Reviews includedboth an oral presentation of five minutes and a written memorandum, called PM. Each student wasresponsible for one oral presentation and one PM. Examination of the course was based on the finalproject result as well as on performance during the Design Reviews. The conclusions from thisapproach are that the general motivation was increased. The project results were very good andincluded several innovative solutions. Student reaction to the high demands was positive but teachercoaching is a very important factor for keeping this on a manageable and stimulating level for thestudents and preventing it from being an oppressive stress factor.

Preparing students for real life is a main issue for education programs. At Luleå University of Technology, (LTU), this is done by a range of different course layouts and course assignments. Students studying at the Industrial Design Engineering program practice this as group work, workshops and individual assignments always based on the intention to be as close to what students will face after exam in their first employments. Yet there is a major problem with this. Assignments are still not sharp and students know the worst outcome would be to not pass. This paper describes a project assignment connected to an international competition and on a complexity level that needs competences from several different university programs. The project is a competition, which is a successful way to increase focus, commitment and reaching a higher level of result. In this project students have to form their own project organization, plan and distribute work. This is very close to how they are going to act in their future profession and how they have to interact with other professions in the real life situation. Interaction with other programs sometimes occurs but in this project the interaction is on a much higher level because of the complexity and the intensity that is the effect of a competition. Being a part of a bigger project organization gives experiences in collaborating as handling personal problems and people acting unexpected with other competences. Successful competitions results create attention good for students, teachers and the university.

För att uppnå det övergripande målet att skapa en internationellt konkurrenskraftig regional tillverkningsindustri har projektet följande mål: • Genomföra ett antal högkvalitativa seminarier där experter möter små eller medelstora svenska och finska företag. Seminarierna ska resultera i en ”Agenda för industriell framtid” • Implementera ett antal demonstranter (svetsning) där man kan utveckla och träna operatörer, utveckla nya organisationsformer, testa olika styrsystem, samordna demonstratorer i nätverk och ett antal andra aktiviteter som utvecklats inom ”Agenda för industriell framtid” • Genomföra 20 handlingsprogram (ett för varje företag) där man försöker realisera agendan i anslutning till den etablerade demonstratorn. Målsättningen är att förbättra det ekonomiska omsättningen med 15 % samtidigt som man förbättrar miljön med 15 %. • Arrangera ett internationellt slutseminarium Projektets vision är att regionens tillverkningsindustri kan ses som en av de mest avancerade SME-kulturerna i världen. Baserat på avancerad hög-teknologi lyckas man utveckla innovativa produkter i världsklass, samtidigt som man värnar om ekologisk hållbarhet. Metoder för jämställdhet, som bidrar till att bryta den sneda könsfördelningen inom industrin, har utvecklats. Företagen är konkurrenskraftiga och genererar såväl höga intäkter som en stabilt växande arbetsmarknad.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the use of an external expert, called facilitator in this study, can assist a company with little previous knowledge within the field of Rapid Prototyping, called RP in this study, first to determine if they would benefit from RP and if so, find which components that are suitable for RP, and second to find the optimum RP method and RP service bureau. Design/methodology/approach - The study was made as action research, where the researcher actively participated in the project acting as the facilitator. The company involved had a clear ambition to make their prototyping more effective and wanted to know if RP could be useful in this ambition. Findings - The results show that the facilitator's assistance was useful to the company. Within two weeks, a component was selected, a suitable RP method was found and a RP service bureau was contacted. Without this extra expertise, the company could have difficulties identifying the internal needs, the demands to put to the RP method and to choose suitable method and contractor. By acting in the company's interest, the facilitator ensures an objective selection of RP method and that it is optimized for the current situation. Originality/value - This study is not on finding a new method for selecting the best RP method. The main objective for this study is to find a way to make these selection methods, and also the RP technology, available to companies new to the technology while the company's interest is kept in focus.

The Bologna Process has led to fundamental changes in the way students are taught. This in turn has led to new quality assurance systems for teaching. For good outcomes to occur both the teachers and students need to be aware of the intended learning outcome (ILO) and this is made clearer by well defined Teacher/Learner Activities (TLAs). The Systematic Grading Procedure (SGP) has been shown to assist teachers grading student’s 3D-image work, fulfilling a need for assistance in subjects requiring grading of subjective nature. With the application of this method have both teachers and students been given a tool that helps them better understand the grading process and the level of importance of different parts of the 3D work. The aim of this study was to assess students’ learning outcomes. The SGP was used and compared by both teachers and students in assessing their own work. This study used four students who were introduced to the SGP at the introduction of the course. This was done to give then an idea how they are to understand the ILOs. After one of their assignments was graded the students were given an opportunity to improve their work using the SPG. Three of the four choose to improve their work. The ensuing interview and results showed that the SGP could be used as a tool to help students and teachers with the ILO and TLAs. In addition to that the SGP should further be tested for verification.

In industry today, many different tools and methods using 3D technology are used to create virtual prototypes or products. These tools are excellent for their purpose and offer great possibilities. However, even using these tools, some things are hard to transfer and examine within them. This paper gives you two examples of cases where organic objects are used as an original and then transferred into the digital world. Physical prototypes were used in both cases and the paper explains what they added in addition to the digital 3D-models.