A Review of Computer Skills in Industrial Design Education: Issues, Opportunities and Recommendations

Giovanni Jesue Contreras Garcia (2018)

The application of computers in the modelling and visualisation process is named 'Computer Aided Design' (CAD), which has become a crucial practical skill in Design and Engineering. This research surveys 38 Industrial/Product Design schools globally and analyses their corresponding curriculums. The findings are complemented by several interviews with practitioners, academics and researchers, and other sources such as artefact analysis, action research and auto-ethnography. The result shows that the development of computer skills in Industrial Design schools has excluded the concern of 3D modelling skills and other supporting skills such as project management using computers and computer programming. The results argue that most schools do not teach students to work with Polygonal Models, Solid and Surface (NURBs) models simultaneously, while students should learn to work with all three different types of models under the current trend. This research provides a series of recommendations to enhance computer skills development in Industrial Design Education by using a framework developed in these studies.