Great Expectations for the O-shaped Designer

The 2015 and 17th Engineering & Product Design Education (E&PDE) conference was an impressive affair, providing an international panel of representatives from education, research and industry with a forum for discussing current issues in the disciplines of engineering and design, and shaping new approaches for education. E&PDE was hosted by Loughborough Design School, in partnership with the Design Education Special Interest Group of the Design Society and the IED. ‘Great Expectations: Design Teaching, Research & Enterprise’ was that conference theme, articulated in a rich programme of strands, ranging from pedagogy to learning paradigms and environments, to research into problem- and project- based learning, including social and ethical issues, innovation and technology transfer.

Under the ‘Exploring Design Education’ track, a paper by Clare Brass and Francesco Mazzarella, titled ‘Are we asking the right questions?’, reflected on how the current economic and environmental crisis is creating growing expectations on engineering and design students, academics and professionals to explore experiment and implement innovative solutions for a sustainable future.