TERTIARY EDUCATION IN ADVANCED COMPOSITES - TOO MANY ENGINEERS, NOT ENOUGH DESIGNERS

摘要

It is generally agreed that future growth in carbon composites will be in consumer products. Yet while composite materials may be studied in a number of Engineering disciplines it is seldom a formal part of an Industrial Design Degree. As a result while Industrial designers like the idea of carbon fibre and are intrigued by its potential they rarely feel confident enough to recommend it to their clients. This is an enormous problem when you look at the consumer product cycle where new products start at market demand and generally go thru an Industrial Designer before moving on thru engineering to production. This presentation will examine this cycle, what an advanced composite design degree course might include and why the entire Composites Community would benefit from having professional designers with a clear understanding of what these materials can do.