24 November 2009
NCR searches for Scotland’s next Philippe Starck
Students from four of Scotland’s top higher education institutions compete for ‘Self-service Designer of the Year’ title.
NCR Corporation is searching for Scotland’s young ‘Designer of the Year’ in a competition that pits four of the country’s top higher education institutions against one another.
The third year students from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, part of the University of Dundee, are competing against counterparts from Grays School of Art (Aberdeen), Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh University School of Arts, Culture and Environment to design the self-service solutions of tomorrow. The winner will get an internship at NCR’s R&D centre in Dundee and a top of the range iPod.
Through the process the students will gain valuable insights into the demands of working in industry by researching business and consumer needs, defining and developing their ideas and pitching them in front of a live audience.
This offers a great opportunity for the students to experience the type of environment they will face after graduation according to Dr Jon Rogers, Programme Director of Product Design, a course operated by DJCAD and the College of Art, Science and Engineering at Dundee.
'Working with companies is at the heart of what we do,' he said. 'It is at the heart of what our students expect when they join the course and this competition is a flagship example of what works well between industries and universities.'
'For the students this is an amazing opportunity - to work on a live industry project as they move towards their final year helps to position their skills, their thinking and their ambitions for a future in work beyond the course.'
Self-service was recently named one of the ten most important trends in the world by Time magazine. Consumers like the fact self-service solutions enable them to compare and customise products and services more easily and give more control over when and where they can carry out transactions. Product comparison touch screens and self-checkouts in shops; mobile travel alerts and boarding passes in airports; and ATMs and kiosks in banks; are some of the NCR self-service solutions which are revolutionising society.
The competition is part of NCR’s ongoing programme to identify the aspirations and attitudes of the generation born after the 1980s, referred to by sociologists as the ‘new millennials’. With the clean slate this date implies, these young people have a can-do and driven outlook.
Charlie Rohan, NCR’s Director of Consumer Experience, comments, 'Designers embrace a new way of looking at the world. It’s important to NCR to get input from many different sources – including young people – to identify the trends of tomorrow. This is why we run and sponsor a range of competitions for students in Scotland and internationally.'
The forty best contestants will be given just two minutes to pitch their idea to a panel of judges from NCR and Scottish Enterprise in front of a live audience on December 18. Just eight students will be called back to be cross-examined before the winner is selected.
Joyce Matthew from Scottish Enterprise, and chair of the judges, comments, 'Scotland has a proud history of producing great designers. We’ve given the world everything from tarmac to best selling computer games. Scottish Enterprise is in no doubt that business innovation is the key to Scotland’s economic growth. This competition gives the next generation of innovators the opportunity to apply their talent to solving real-world challenges.'
Dundee is a major centre for NCR. It is home to NCR Labs, the company’s advanced development group, and the majority of its multi-disciplinary Consumer Experience (Cx) team who analyse consumers’ physical and psychological needs around the world when defining the functionality and form of NCR’s solutions.
This is the fifth year NCR has run its design competition for Scottish students. NCR is also sponsoring a Royal Society of Arts and Manufacturers and Commerce (RSA) ‘Design Directions’ competition project for the eighth consecutive year, which is open to all UK design undergraduates. The 2009/2010 project focuses on solutions to ‘Design out shoplifting’.
About NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a global technology company leading how the world connects, interacts and transacts with business. NCR’s assisted- and self-service solutions and comprehensive support services address the needs of retail, financial, travel, healthcare, hospitality, entertainment, gaming and public sector organizations in more than 100 countries. NCR (www.ncr.com) is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia.
NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries.
News Media Contact
Helen McInnes
NCR Corporation
+44(0)208 412 0332 / +44(0)7748 761 041
helen.mcinnes@ncr.com.
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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
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