Design Research Units and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs): An Approach for Advancing Technology and Competitive Strength in Australia

Abstract

This paper makes the case that small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector have the potential to benefit from connections with design research units operating within universities. It points out some of the challenges associated with research and development for SMEs, and argues design research units can allow SMEs to better meet these challenges. Additive Manufacturing is used as an exemplary emerging technology that makes explicit the new possibilities and instability of the contemporary manufacturing landscape. A case study is used to articulate the potentials and limitations of industry and university partnerships in design. In conclusion, two alternative models are analysed in order to highlight different ends to which the practitioner-based research can be put.

Keywords:

• Australian SMEs
• industrial design
• advanced manufacturing
• university–industry collaboration

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roderick Walden

Roderick Walden undertakes research into the contemporary methods and practice of industrial design. His principal areas of research interest lie in professional practice, self-initiated product innovation, and design thinking. He has worked as a product designer and engineer for a range of manufacturers in the commercial office furniture industry, including international companies based in the USA and Germany. He has published research on innovation and prioritization in design and international networks in design formulation.

Stefan Lie

Stefan Lie is a designing academic whose work in design began in the field of industrial design and has evolved, through project experience as a consultant, postgraduate study, and academic research, to focus on interactive product design. Lie’s specific research interest is in developing new ways in which people can be provoked to interact with physical artefacts.

Berto Pandolfo

Berto Pandolfo is an industrial design practice orientated researcher whose design research interests are focused around the application of emerging and/or traditional methods to develop new approaches to complex form making, within the context of small batch production in Australia. Berto’s designs have been cited in both local and international design journals and his work has been exhibited in design events both locally and internationally. Berto is senior lecturer and director of Integrated Product Design at the University of Technology Sydney.

Thomas Lee

Tom Lee is a design researcher whose work focuses on the usefulness of contemporary aesthetic theory, poetics, and design philosophy for design practitioners. Tom has extensive teaching experience within the university and industry helping designers refine and communicate the key concepts in their work, including communication projects with leading design thinking consultancies.

Cathy Lockhart

Cathy Lockhart is an industrial designer and an academic. Her research explores the implications of the changing gender mix of the student population in industrial design education towards a notable increase in women graduates. In particular, she is interested in students’ educational experience and transition into the profession. Cathy has taken leadership roles at the UTS School of Design through academic course management positions.