Becky Verthe

Bio: Becky Verthe is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Product design & Industrial design. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 2 publications receiving 4 citations.

INNOWIZ: a guided framework for projects in industrial design education

Abstract: This paper presents the concrete application of the INNOWIZ methodology in a design education context. This methodical philosophy is used as a structural backbone in teaching the product design process to students in industrial product design. Observations and teaching experience concluded that these students need a METHOD to manage their creative processes, INSPIRATION in the form of tools and techniques to reach to the breakthrough ideas and make them more tangible one step at a time, and a PERSONAL APPROACH to tackle any specific situation and to deal with many different design briefs.

Innowiz: a guiding framework for projects in industrial design education

Abstract: This paper presents the concrete application of the INNOWIZ methodology in a design education context. This methodical philosophy is used as a structural backbone in teaching the product design process to students in industrial product design. Observations and teaching experience have shown that these students need a method to manage their creative processes, inspiration in the form of tools and techniques in order to open up their mindset for idea exploration, and a personal approach to tackle any specific situation and to deal with many different design briefs.

Innovative design of a hexapod scorpion through digital production techniques

Abstract: This paper describes the innovative design process and production of a novel scorpion-based hexapod robot. The robotic scorpion was designed to be as reproducible, modular and adaptable as possible, being produced strictly using digital production techniques and off-the-shelf parts. These production techniques ensure that the robot and all its components become easy to reproduce and adapt, making it possible for everybody to build their own hexapod robot or optimize the robot in future work. In addition to our digital production, some innovative, anatomy-based features were integrated in the robot to solve several problems related to other hexapods. The use of elastics in the legs, for example, solves the high energy consumption of the motors and gravitational separation caused by the heavy weight of the hexapod. Furthermore, the scorpion tail is actuated by one single servomotor, simulating antagonistic muscles with ropes. By integrating these nature-inspired solutions, in combination with digitally produced parts, we improve the performance of a previously designed hexapod.

Design students at the crossroads ofadaption and self-will

Abstract: One challenge in design education is that design students should develop a deliberate personal stance. Recent discussions on design education appear to be focused either on the provision and adaption of methods and toolboxes or on issues of apprenticeship. In this paper we argue that theses perspectives entail rather simplistic ideas of the designer´s agency. We therefore outline a third perspective that highlights the transformative nature of practice in educational settings and provide a relational concept of style as a dynamic expression of a personal stance. Educational situations are not confined by the interactions between the student and the teacher but inevitably also mirror the articulated or presumed expectations of other actors, be it users, clients, fellow students, future employees, and other stakeholders. As a consequence the student has to find a way to cope with the polyphony of expectations and act on multiple playgrounds simultaneously. To illustrate how the quest for style might materialize in an educational setting, we present examples from a field study. Based on these examples we discuss implications for design education.

Hot potatoes and double diamond in a whiz: can techniques and processes really lead to innovation?

Abstract: The paper introduces a brief student project that was carried out with a large number of groups of students from engineering and design backgrounds. This was intended to provide the students with an experience of developing innovative ideas from the pre-idea position to the stage of putting forward concrete proposals for action. The paper relays the experience of running such a project and its benefits, but then asks the questions of how close it came to achieving its goal of getting students involved in an innovation process. Innovation would seem to require three conditions for it to exist. The first is a significantly different idea: the second is an environment that nurtures the idea and the third is the society that is prepared to take up and disseminate the embodied idea. The small six-week project aims to provide some techniques that make the achievement of these criteria more likely. It resulted in changed behaviour from some students but for significant innovation to take place a longer period needs to be used to develop and nurture it.