Product Design

karaokeman

Anyone here done the Product Design course in NUIM.

I've heard good stories about the course from students I've talked to and whatnot.

I'm wondering what are the assignments like in the course, is there much essay writing, any other specific type assignments common to PD?

I've tried looking up exam questions on the library website but couldn't find any unfortunately but before I make up my mind about what course I'm definitely doing I would love to get a better idea.

Thanks to all

watchingd

Hey there karaokeman,

Yup I do Product Design, hopefully I'm not too late in answering your question!

I'm wondering what are the assignments like in the course, is there much essay writing, any other specific type assignments common to PD?

Well the course changes a fair bit from year to year. In first year you do some design and then a bit of everything else, some business, maths, physics and engineering but none of it is too hard and all the lecturers are grand to talk to as the course has small enough numbers. Essay writing is minimal as are the amount of assignments.

Second year is where more of the fun happens, you get more projects and the course is a more based on continuous assessment which is way better, it means you aren't stuck with many exams at the end of the year. The projects change from year to year but to give you an idea on what we had to do in my year for one was to research, design and make a solidworks model of a sound system of your choice (i.e. Surround sound system, portable speakers, laptop speakers etc.) Psychology and marketing are also done in second year but aren't too bad.

In third year there are some bigger projects and 6 months of either work placement or erasmus. This means you can either get a job and hope for pay but more likely work for free from 6 months (well unless things are different in 3 years) or else study abroad. The first semester projects are really good and you get some outside lecturers. I think we had two exams in 3rd year

Finally in fourth year you fully create your own product, do all the research, design, model making (both on solidworks and a working model) and then show it at an end of year show. You also have some smaller projects during the year.

I think thats an ok description of the course, to be fair the course is getting better each year, we recently got new labs and a model making room and the department are constantly trying to make the course better. There is way more to say but I just cant think of it all right now, PM me if you have any questions.

karaokeman

Hey thanks for the reply. In response to the information you've given me;

watchingd wrote: »

Well the course changes a fair bit from year to year. In first year you do some design and then a bit of everything else, some business, maths, physics and engineering but none of it is too hard and all the lecturers are grand to talk to as the course has small enough numbers. Essay writing is minimal as are the amount of assignments.

Thats great to know. I'm usually the type of person whose interests differ from time to time. I often enjoy dabbling in different areas like maths, business and so fort so that will be good for me. May I ask how many students exactly would often be in a lecture? By small would you mean like 50, 30 or so? I don't really mind how many people do the course so any numbers will be fine with me.

watchingd wrote: »

Second year is where more of the fun happens, you get more projects and the course is a more based on continuous assessment which is way better, it means you aren't stuck with many exams at the end of the year. The projects change from year to year but to give you an idea on what we had to do in my year for one was to research, design and make a solidworks model of a sound system of your choice (i.e. Surround sound system, portable speakers, laptop speakers etc.) Psychology and marketing are also done in second year but aren't too bad.

I love continuous assesment, it helps me work to the best of my ability because usually I do much better at the start of semester. The projects you mentioned also sound handy. A bit of psychology also would be of major benefit to me as I am greatly interested in the subject.

watchingd wrote: »

In third year there are some bigger projects and 6 months of either work placement or erasmus. This means you can either get a job and hope for pay but more likely work for free from 6 months (well unless things are different in 3 years) or else study abroad. The first semester projects are really good and you get some outside lecturers. I think we had two exams in 3rd year.

I'd say I would prefer to study abroad than look for a job with questionable salaries at home. May I ask is it true I can work anywhere I like because I have a few ideas in mind.

watchingd wrote: »

Finally in fourth year you fully create your own product, do all the research, design, model making (both on solidworks and a working model) and then show it at an end of year show. You also have some smaller projects during the year.

After three years I'd imagine the course would just sink in and I would be so familiar with how to go about doing a project it would be no bother. The end of year show also sounds cool.

watchingd wrote: »

I think thats an ok description of the course, to be fair the course is getting better each year, we recently got new labs and a model making room and the department are constantly trying to make the course better. There is way more to say but I just cant think of it all right now, PM me if you have any questions.

Thats awesome. I will be looking forward to that if I get into Product Design as many of my courses in secondary school were quite outdated. It will be interesting and a change in that sense to try something, which is constantly modernised.

Alt_Grrr

karaokeman wrote: »

look for a job with questionable salaries at home. May I ask is it true I can work anywhere I like because I have a few ideas in mind.

The majority of people in my course (CSSE) got paid work placements and most of us gained invaluable experience from it. Personally I never found my salary or benefits questionable during my placement.

Speaking from own experience its easier to find work when your finished if you have some previous and relevant work experience on your CV, or to put it as one of managers did "Some things you can only learn from books, some things you can only learn by doing, but I'm yet to see anything you could learn from swanning off for a year" So if you do go abroad for a semester, make it count.

If you really want to make a good stab at anything science-y or engineering-y in university, you should invest some of your free time in some side projects that interest you, their is some valuable learning to be had at best or at worst you'll have something extra to talk about in interviews.

watchingd

Alt_Grrr wrote: »

The majority of people in my course (CSSE) got paid work placements and most of us gained invaluable experience from it. Personally I never found my salary or benefits questionable during my placement.

Product Design is a different course to CSSE (obviously), but from what I understand there were many courses last year that found it hard to find paid placement, it's a sign of the times.
There are only a few product design companies in Ireland, and if you want to be a part of the better ones you will not be getting paid its as simple as that. and even the smaller companies know they will only have to pay travel expenses maximum. From my year only two people got paid placement and about three got travel expenses.

Yes you can take up your placement anywhere in the world, or you can go on erasmus. If you take either up within the E.U. you can get a grant from the government which is pretty decent.

May I ask how many students exactly would often be in a lecture? By small would you mean like 50, 30 or so? I don't really mind how many people do the course so any numbers will be fine with me.

Well each year the first year group has been getting larger, I think this years was about 30, with the fourth years just finished having a class of 12, so the classes are generally quite small and you will get to know your lecturers pretty well.
That is within Product Design, in other classes such as psychology you will be in with other students and the classes get much larger.

mp3guy

watchingd wrote: »

Product Design is a different course to CSSE (obviously), but from what I understand there were many courses last year that found it hard to find paid placement, it's a sign of the times.

Not exactly true... there were many unfulfilled placements in 2010, whereas in 2011 there was basically none.

And re: sign of the times, you'll see the IT industry is flooded with jobs; http://www.jobs.ie/Jobs.aspx?Categories=4

watchingd

mp3guy wrote: »

Not exactly true... there were many unfulfilled placements in 2010, whereas in 2011 there was basically none.

From my course alone there were 4-5 people without placements, which might not sound like that many but when there are only 16 people in 3rd year its around 1/4 of the year.

Just again on this point, I said the following:

but from what I understand there were many courses last year that found it hard to find paid placement, it's a sign of the times.

mp3guy wrote: »

And re: sign of the times, you'll see the IT industry is flooded with jobs; http://www.jobs.ie/Jobs.aspx?Categories=4

Most of the jobs listed are either for software development(Java etc) or engineering, I don't know what you think Product Design is but if you were in the course you would know that the amount of coding/engineering we do is minimal.

I suppose seen as this thread is mainly talking about placement I will add the following,

Product Design is a new enough course to NUIM, only two years so far have gone through the process of finding work placements. From the two years that have gone through it basically everyone found their own placement with little or no help from the college. We found that the kind of jobs we were being told were looking for product design students were actually looking for computer science/computer engineering students.

If you choose not to go for work placement you can go on erasmus like I said before to anywhere you want to go. Nobody in either this years 3rd year or the year before opted to go abroad to study so I have no clue about it.

If you neither go on erasmus or you can't find a work placement there is a 3rd option, where you can do a thesis/project work for the 6 months.



Now all this being said Product Design in NUIM is a great course and is getting better every year, I would highly recommend it, work placement (especially paid) will be hard to find no matter what course you are in.

mp3guy

watchingd wrote: »

Most of the jobs listed are either for software development(Java etc) or engineering, I don't know what you think Product Design is but if you were in the course you would know that the amount of coding/engineering we do is minimal.

Well, you said;

watchingd wrote: »

Product Design is a different course to CSSE (obviously), but from what I understand there were many courses last year that found it hard to find paid placement, it's a sign of the times.

Which came across as "many courses including CSSE were hard to find placement in", so I pointed out that that wasn't the case for CSSE and as such the "it's a sign of the times" statement doesn't apply to CSSE, as shown by the jobs link I sent you (which was only intended to show that there are no issues in the CS field of things, nothing to do with Product Design).

watchingd wrote: »

Now all this being said Product Design in NUIM is a great course and is getting better every year, I would highly recommend it, work placement (especially paid) will be hard to find no matter what course you are in.

Again, incorrect. Almost everyone (bar one or two) in this years (or last years, depending on how you define it) CSSE class got paid placement. Paid placement is not difficult to find in that field, so your sweeping "no matter what course" statement is incorrect and misleading for students studying CS.

Just sayin'

watchingd

So I am guessing all your posts are directed at CSSE and not the college as a whole and have absolutely nothing to do with Product Design. Maybe CSSE students didnt find it hard to find placement or find paid placement but many other students did.

mp3guy wrote: »

Not exactly true... there were many unfulfilled placements in 2010, whereas in 2011 there was basically none.

Therefore your "sweeping statement is incorrect and misleading" for all student bar CSSE ones as nowhere did you mention CSSE.

mp3guy wrote: »

Again, incorrect. Almost everyone (bar one or two) in this years (or last years, depending on how you define it) CSSE class got paid placement. Paid placement is not difficult to find in that field, so your sweeping "no matter what course" statement is incorrect and misleading for students studying CS.

So your course is the exception, many (i suppose I should say excluding CSSE as you seem so touchy on the subject) other courses including business courses and product design found it hard to get paid placements.

mp3guy

watchingd wrote: »

So I am guessing all your posts are directed at CSSE and not the college as a whole and have absolutely nothing to do with Product Design. Maybe CSSE students didnt find it hard to find placement or find paid placement but many other students did.



Therefore your "sweeping statement is incorrect and misleading" for all student bar CSSE ones as nowhere did you mention CSSE.



So your course is the exception, many (i suppose I should say excluding CSSE as you seem so touchy on the subject) other courses including business courses and product design found it hard to get paid placements.

You're entirely correct.

LeixlipRed

Product Design is a completely thrown together course catering for the arseholes who think that three lads in a room designing a new smoothie maker will solve the economic crisis. It's all about entrepreneurialship right? Nah, it's not. Better off studying engineering and designing potato peelers at the weekends in your own spare time.

watchingd

LeixlipRed wrote: »

Product Design is a completely thrown together course catering for the arseholes who think that three lads in a room designing a new smoothie maker will solve the economic crisis. It's all about entrepreneurialship right? Nah, it's not. Better off studying engineering and designing potato peelers at the weekends in your own spare time.

Brilliant critique of the course... Product Design is more the finesse that brings together design and the engineering behind it, while the course at first was a bit thrown together it is quickly becoming one of the more sought after courses in the college.

Aren't you a lecturer or some lecturer's aid or something? While I understand this boards area isn't the .nuim website it is however affiliated to the college so calling people arseholes just because they are in a certain course is insulting and is not needed, especially from a moderator.

However seen as you do want to go down this road you can look at the engineering course, possibly the least sought after in the college. And what do you gain from the course? Well you learn how to connect wires together in circuits for the grand old purpose of... connecting wires together. Not only this but you get the most riveting lecturers who teach you how to add 1+1 in C++, handy for when your computer doesn't have a calculator, connection to the internet or your stupid enough to not know what 1+1 is ( the answer is 2 for those entering first year engineering).

But yes by all means do engineering, be a part of the 40th best course in NUIM, where you are guaranteed to find a free computer within the campus to check up on those 10 facebook friends you have or to play the latest free online zombie game while the blinds are down and the lights are turned on on the sunniest day of the year!

mp3guy

watchingd wrote: »

However seen as you do want to go down this road you can look at the engineering course, possibly the least sought after in the college. And what do you gain from the course? Well you learn how to connect wires together in circuits for the grand old purpose of... connecting wires together. Not only this but you get the most riveting lecturers who teach you how to add 1+1 in C++, handy for when your computer doesn't have a calculator, connection to the internet or your stupid enough to not know what 1+1 is ( the answer is 2 for those entering first year engineering).

But yes by all means do engineering, be a part of the 40th best course in NUIM, where you are guaranteed to find a free computer within the campus to check up on those 10 facebook friends you have or to play the latest free online zombie game while the blinds are down and the lights are turned on on the sunniest day of the year!

Yeah, look how few research positions EEng has;
http://www.eeng.nuim.ie/research/res_opps.shtml

Oh wait. SFI and Enterprise Ireland seem very happy pumping quite a bit of money into a department that only teaches students how to connect wires :rolleyes:

watchingd

NUIM as a whole has great prospects for doing research within arts, business, science and engineering... , just like many other colleges DIT UCC DCU. Your point being?


engineers are so cooool!

mp3guy

watchingd wrote: »

Your point being?

Your comments about the Engineering Department are unfounded and merely a knee jerk reaction to LeixlipRed's comments about your own course.

watchingd

Nah most of my comments about the engineering course were correct, course is as dull as the colour grey!

" Just sayin' "

mp3guy

watchingd wrote: »

Nah most of my comments about the engineering course were correct, course is as dull as the colour grey!

" Just sayin' "

That's the 3rd time you've intimated some aspect of my post. You're too kind.

LeixlipRed

watchingd wrote: »

Brilliant critique of the course... Product Design is more the finesse that brings together design and the engineering behind it, while the course at first was a bit thrown together it is quickly becoming one of the more sought after courses in the college.

Aren't you a lecturer or some lecturer's aid or something? While I understand this boards area isn't the .nuim website it is however affiliated to the college so calling people arseholes just because they are in a certain course is insulting and is not needed, especially from a moderator.

My critique was more based on the fact that universities should be places of learning and not home to courses purely designed as a stepping stone to industry. Also it was meant in jest.

Secondly, no I'm not a lecture, I don't know what a lecturer's aid is but I'm sure you'll invent it someday and I'm a moderator of a different forum. And I wasn't calling anyone in specific an arsehole but I don't like wannabe self-made millionaire types if you want me to be specific.

watchingd

Oww sorry I didn't know that you meant the course was totally worthless and that the people in it don't learn anything if I had known that I wouldn't of said a thing...

But I must admit using university as a stepping stone into industry and god forbid it helping me to one day get a job is sacrilege. What I really want to do is to stay in university forever, just learning all day long. Want to be my book friend?

Within the course you learn your fair share of information; psychology, engineering, anthropology, business, marketing, graphics, computer aided design, physics, maths, ergonomics and more. What can you do after? Well you can become a self made millionaire if your good, or go into market research, product development, computer aided design and loads of other area's.

Or I could go do maths in college and become... a maths teacher/lecturer or a human calculator.... ow what a life that would be.

mp3guy

Obvious troll is obvious.

LeixlipRed

I'm not opposed to people being innovative, I'm opposed to people being sold the lie that all this country needs is innovative entrepreneur types to start businesses and that suddenly all of life's inequalities will fail to exist and we'll have new Celtic Tiger where the rich get richer and....so on so forth.

And you say you get the chance to study maths then dismiss it in the next sentence. How does the wireless internet connection you're using to connect to the internet work? Using radio waves which were predicted to exist by a mathematician called Maxwell 22 years before they were verified experimentally. Human calculator indeed.

LeixlipRed

mp3guy wrote: »

Obvious troll is obvious.

Thought him all you know did you?

watchingd

LeixlipRed wrote: »

I'm not opposed to people being innovative, I'm opposed to people being sold the lie that all this country needs is innovative entrepreneur types to start businesses and that suddenly all of life's inequalities will fail to exist and we'll have new Celtic Tiger where the rich get richer and....so on so forth.

And you say you get the chance to study maths then dismiss it in the next sentence. How does the wireless internet connection you're using to connect to the internet work? Using radio waves which were predicted to exist by a mathematician called Maxwell 22 years before they were verified experimentally. Human calculator indeed.

And who puts that technology in a nice box? Your welcome.

LeixlipRed

You're.

cian1500ww

I'm currently on work placement from CSSE and it's proven to be one of the best things I've done to date, it's amazing how much you learn about the IT industry once you get your foot in the door. OP, I'd highly recommend taking a course that has some form of industrial placement, it'll stand to you in the future.

squishykins

LeixlipRed wrote: »

You're.

LeixlipRed wrote: »

Thought him all you know did you?

Taught. BOOOO-URN

LeixlipRed

You spelled burn wrong :P

squishykins

Thanks for pointing that out, I missed that one. :rolleyes:

K.O.Kiki

From what I learned in 1st Year, they're prepping us Product Design guys to be the "in-between" for concept designers (the guys who dream up crazy ideas) and engineering (the guys who get stuff built).

Also we learn marketing, which means we can SELL our ideas correctly.

Alt_Grrr

cian1500ww wrote: »

I'm currently on work placement from CSSE and it's proven to be one of the best things I've done to date, it's amazing how much you learn about the IT industry once you get your foot in the door. OP, I'd highly recommend taking a course that has some form of industrial placement, it'll stand to you in the future.

The down side is that your more then likely going to be working for the summer... which has the upside that you don't need to go looking for a summer job.

I know some people have had ****e placements, but its really good experience and a great chance to learn. also you get to try out a job for 6 months and see if you like it, if you don't then you know what job to avoid when you graduate.

Play nice everyone else...