Visualizing and Prototyping, 7.5 credits

Main field of study with advanced study

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or the equivalent of 180 Swedish credit points or 180 ECTS credits at an accredited university, and Industrial organisation 15 credits on first level. Applicants must have written and verbal command of the English language equivalent to English course 6 in Swedish Upper-Secondary School.

The course is included in Master's Programme (120 credits) in Industrial Management and Innovation

In the course, students work with practical product development. The students carry out a product development project together with industry where they apply knowledge in innovation management by combining technical, economical and management perspectives in development work, in which students are trained to apply and reflect about how to use different prototyping techniques to manage and visualize product development work, so that financial, technical and managerial perspectives are integrated.

In the course, the students use tools in computer aided product development (CAD) and additive Rapid prototyping (rapid prototyping) to obtain the skills to identify, solve and evaluate technical and managerial problems in the innovation process.

Following successful completion of the course the student should:

Knowledge and understanding

• Explain and understand how to use different tools in computer aided product development (CAD) and additive Rapid prototyping during the management of the product development process.

Skills and ability

• Discuss, analyze, and assess how and during what conditions different types of tools in computer aided product development (CAD) and additive Rapid prototyping processes works.
• Use tools such as CAD and rapid prototyping when leading an innovation process in a real development project together with industry.
• Independently plan, conduct, report and present a scientific study both written and verbally, within specified time limits.

Judgement and approach

• Analyze, evaluate and develop various innovations and business models.

The course deals with the practical side of how companies' ability to develop different types of technological innovations works, through the use of tools such as CAD and rapid prototyping and how different innovations can be combined and integrated into new business models. The course includes a development project, together with industry, in which students are trained to apply and reflect about how to use different prototyping techniques to manage and visualize product development work, so that financial, technical and managerial perspectives are integrated.

The overall content of the course is to focus on how companies through increased innovation capabilities may strengthen their competitiveness.

The course makes the students aware of the importance of knowing how to communicate design and function to the end customer, since a good idea always requires a good communication during the whole development process. The students will also learn to understand how to work in multi-cultural teams and understand the difficulties and challenges of team building and team leadership.
The core of the course is a product development project that is carried out in co-operation with industry. In order to do so the students will learn two major things;

• Understand and handle prototyping including 3D printing, software and other tools
• Follow a product development process and learn how to perform individual activities
The majority of the course time (exercises, lectures and workshops as well as lab work) will be located in the FABLAB facility at Halmstad University.

Teaching takes place through lectures, seminars and exercises. The course also includes guest lectures from industry.

The majority of the course (exercises, lectures and workshops as well as the laboratory work) will be in FABLAB at Halmstad University.

The teaching is conducted in English.

The course is examined through a workshop that the students hold themselves, as well as an industry-oriented development project and a written report on the development project.

If there are special reasons, the examiner may make exceptions from the specified examination format and allow a student to be examined in another way. Special reasons can e.g. be study support for students with disabilities.

Course evaluation is part of the course. This evaluation offers guidance in the future development and planning of the course. Course evaluation is documented and made available to the students.