5 February 2008

Design students set for Microsoft Expo

Design students at the University of Dundee have been selected as the UK’s sole representatives in the Microsoft Design Expo 2008.

The Dundee students - drawn from the University’s unique interdisciplinary courses in Innovative Product Design & Interactive Media Design - are participating alongside designs schools from the US, China, India, Mexico, and the Netherlands in the annual challenge set by the computing giant.

This is the first time that the University of Dundee has been invited to participate in the Expo.

The challenge set by Microsoft this year is in the area of learning and education. The brief encourages design solutions that improve the daily life of a wide variety of users, from promoting creativity and curiosity in new topics, to demonstrating novel ways of providing instruction, to rethinking education systems and tools. The brief asks for the demonstration of an exceptional design process and ideas with solutions that think beyond traditional software.

"This is a great challenge for our students and one they are really relishing," said Polly Duplock, programme director for the Innovative Product Design course.

"Our courses in Innovative Product Design and Interactive Media Design - and the close relationship they enjoy - puts the University of Dundee in a unique position within the United Kingdom to tackle challenges such as those set by the Microsoft Design Expo. These courses are championing the emerging area of digital interactive products and the blurring boundaries of software and hardware design solutions."

At the keynote speech of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates discussed the end of the first and the coming of the second digital age. Among other things Gates described this second digital age as being more focussed on connecting with people. He also predicted the replacement of keyboard and mouse driven interactions with other more natural user interfaces. These are all challenges that are currently being discussed and explored at the University of Dundee.

The Innovative Product Design Dundee combines study within Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and in the School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics. Interactive Media Design is a collaboration between Duncan of Jordanstone College and the School of Computing. This unique blend of disciplines gives students the wide range of tools to meet the design challenges of the 21st century.

"The emergence of new technologies has profound implications for products, the people who use them and the cultures in which they are placed," said Polly Duplock. "This is both an exciting and a daunting proposition. The students on our courses are educated to be hybrid designers who have the ability to evaluate and creatively use technology in a design context. Through sensitively and critically assessing the needs of people we hope our graduates will design products that have a positive impact on our changing society."

The students will spend the next two months developing their ideas before one team is chosen to represent the University at the Design Expo. The successful team will fly out to Microsoft’s Research Faculty in Redmond, Washington, at the end of July.

For more on Interactive Media Design at Dundee see: http://imd.dundee.ac.uk/

For more in Innovative Product Design at Dundee see: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/design/bsc-innovative-design.php

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk