International Design Studio Project: some Australian findings to date on preparing industrial design students for the global emerging economy

This case study follows on previous presentations to several international conferences (i.e. ConnectED 07, ISOTL 07, EPDE 08 and 09, International Sociology Association 08, IEEE CSCWD 09) and describes the progress and some of the Australian findings relating to an international industrial design studio project extending over four years between universities in Australia and the Americas. Primarily the project was run from the third year Industrial Design Studio 4 unit at UWS, the last creative design studio before students enter either Honours, Coursework or leave to become Design and Technology teachers. Later it benchmarked students with counterparts elsewhere in Canada and Chile. The project is mainly one of benchmarking and checking whether we enable industrial design students with the skills and knowledge to engage the global economy at a standard equal to or better than that achieved elsewhere in Australia and overseas. The view is that it is imperative to review and re-assess design education and its delivery, its relationship with industry and how it fits within current global changes of standards, working conditions, market demands, technology, access and development, if the Industrial Design graduates of UWS are to be "employable" in a global and local economy.