Students’ designs bowl manufacturer over

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) students made such a good job of designing fruit bowls that manufacturer KMF decided to present them each a gift of the final product.

The A Level Product Design students designed fruit bowls in four different styles and also a mobile phone holder as part of the design challenge with KMF Precision Sheet Metal Limited.

Students first visited KMF in November for a guided tour of the factory floor where production processes were demonstrated and explained.  Armed with the knowledge of how to reduce costs, minimise waste and improve designs, students returned to College and selected six designs for prototyping.

Phil Heath, Programming Engineer at KMF said: “It was with genuine enthusiasm that the students came to KMF; armed with many designs and ideas on their first visit. We gave the students a tour of our facility so that they could see at first hand the production techniques that would be used on their designs.

“The students’ designs progressed from simple drawings and paper cut outs into professional CAD 3D Model File Data. It was a pleasure to work with them on this project.”

Andrew Snape, Curriculum Manager – Technology at NULC, said: “Working with KMF has given the students real world insight into exactly how their designs can be manufactured. The students have worked really hard on their product designs and are very excited to receive their finished items.”

The students took out a College Enterprise loan to fund the manufacture of their chosen products.  Principal Karen Dobson will be presenting the final manufactured products to the student designers at the M.A.D.E Here shop in Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre at 11am on Thursday 12 December.  The products will shortly be on sale at M.A.D.E Here.  Students hope to reinvest profits in order to further develop their product portfolio.

Karen Dobson, Principal at NULC, said: “Projects like this give students valuable experience and a chance to show off their skills. It’s this kind of opportunity that makes Newcastle-under-Lyme College a first choice for students. We are extremely grateful to KMF for investing in the product designers of the future.”

NULC offers art and creative related A Level courses in Art, Dance, Film Studies, Graphic Design, Media Studies, Music, Music Technology, Photography, Product Design, Textiles and Theatres Studies.

To find out more about courses visit www.nulc.ac.uk, call 01782 254254 or email info@nulc.ac.uk.