Design Minds Refresh Toolkit

The Design Minds Refresh Toolkit was one of six K7-12 secondary school design toolkits commissioned by the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) Asia Pacific Design Library (APDL), to facilitate the delivery of the Stage 1 launch of its Design Minds online platform (www.designminds.org.au) partnership initiative with Queensland Government Arts Queensland and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, on June 29, 2012. Design Minds toolkits are practical guides, underpinned by a combination of one to three of the Design Minds model phases of ‘Inquire’, ‘Ideate’ and ‘Implement’ (supported by at each stage with structured reflection), to enhance existing school curriculum and empower students with real life design exercises, within the classroom environment. Toolkits directly identify links to Naplan, National Curriculum, C2C and Professional Standards benchmarks, as well as the student capabilities of successful and creative 21st century citizens they seek to engender through design thinking. Inspired by ideas from a design project for second year Interior Design students at QUT School of Design, this toolkit explores, through five distinct exercises, different design tools and ways to approach the future design of environments (bathrooms) to facilitate the daily washing ritual, while addressing diverse and changing social, cultural, technological and environmental challenges. The Design Minds Refresh Toolkit particularly aims to promote ‘Lateral Thinking’ attitudes and empathy as an approach to create unusual and sustainable solutions to future problems that may affect our daily behavioural routines, and the spaces that facilitate them. More generally, it aims to facilitate awareness in young people, of the role of design in society and the value of design thinking skills in generating strategies to solve basic to complex systemic challenges, as well as to inspire post-secondary pathways and idea generation for education. The toolkit encourages students and teachers to develop sketching, making, communication, presentation and collaboration skills to improve their design process, as well as explore further inquiry (background research) to enhance the ideation exercises. Exercise 1 focuses on the ‘Inquire’ and ‘Ideate’ phases, Exercise 2 and 3 build on ideation skills, and Exercise 4 and 5 concentrate on the ‘Implement’ phase. Depending on the intensity of the focus, the unit of work could be developed over a 4-5 week program (approximately 10-12 x 60 minute lessons/workshops) or as smaller workshops treated as discrete learning experiences. The toolkit is available for public download from http://designminds.org.au/refresh/ on the Design Minds website. Exercise 2 (Other People’s Shoes) and Exercise 3 (The Future Bathroom) of the toolkit were used as content for the inaugural Design Minds Professional Development Workshop on June 28, 2012 to pre-launch the website to Queensland teachers.

Challenges for implementation of a new model of collaborative design management: Analyzing the impact of human factor

The ineffectiveness of current design processes has been well studied and has resulted in widespread calls for the evolution and development of new management processes. Even following the advent of BIM, we continue to move from one stage to another without necessarily having resolved all the issues. CAD design technology, if well handled, could have significantly raised the level of quality and efficiency of current processes, but in practice this was not fully realized. Therefore, technology alone can´t solve all the problems and the advent of BIM could result in a similar bottleneck. For a precise definition of the problem to be solved we should start by understanding what are the main current bottlenecks that have yet to be overcome by either new technologies or management processes, and the impact of human behaviour-related issues which impact the adoption and utilization of new technologies. The fragmented and dispersed nature of the AEC sector, and the huge number of small organizations that comprise it, are a major limiting factor. Several authors have addressed this issue and more recently IDDS has been defined as the highest level of achievement. However, what is written on IDDS shows an extremely ideal situation on a state to be achieved; it shows a holistic utopian proposition with the intent to create the research agenda to move towards that state. Key to IDDS is the framing of a new management model which should address the problems associated with key aspects: technology, processes, policies and people. One of the primary areas to be further studied is the process of collaborative work and understanding, together with the development of proposals to overcome the many cultural barriers that currently exist and impede the advance of new management methods. The purpose of this paper is to define and delimit problems to be solved so that it is possible to implement a new management model for a collaborative design process.

Part 2. MOO methods for multidisciplinary design using parallel evolutionary algorithms, game theory and hierarchical topology. (Part 2.) Numerical aspects and implementation of model test cases

These lecture notes describe the use and implementation of a framework in which mathematical as well as engineering optimisation problems can be analysed. The foundations of the framework and algorithms described -Hierarchical Asynchronous Parallel Evolutionary Algorithms (HAPEAs) - lie upon traditional evolution strategies and incorporate the concepts of a multi-objective optimisation, hierarchical topology, asynchronous evaluation of candidate solutions , parallel computing and game strategies. In a step by step approach, the numerical implementation of EAs and HAPEAs for solving multi criteria optimisation problems is conducted providing the reader with the knowledge to reproduce these hand on training in his – her- academic or industrial environment.

Design research for the real world : a design-led innovation model for action research

The aim of this paper is to aid researchers in undertaking action research within industry with a particular focus on the study of design-led innovation. This paper presents the research design of a case study shaped to solve real world problems concerning a major Australian Airport Corporation by bridging the chasm between academia and industry. The researcher’s role is one of design-innovation catalyst, facilitating the integration of design as a new strategic capability and innovation approach within an organisation’s fabric. A discussion of the researcher experience within industry will provide evidence on the challenges facing such a research role, with strategies for overcoming these barriers presented. Based on the authors’ experience as a researcher within industry and reflection within practice, a project progression model for action research is presented to enable the improved management of industry based research.

Wicked problems in designing open online learning

This paper will report on the “wicked” problems encountered when designing an online course with bounded content in an unbounded learning environment. It will describe the dilemmas faced and decisions made by academics in an Australian university challenged by an institutional initiative to design radical, disruptive learning experiences making use of readily available online media. This bounded/unbounded environment demands new roles for instructors in adopting innovative pedagogies and teaching and learning strategies. It also creates changing and challenging roles for course designers as they deal with ill-defined parameters and unknown audiences. In this paper, we propose a novel methodology for making curricular decisions in ill-defined spaces.

Emerging Opportunities for "Design Thinking" to Deliver Sustainable Solutions in the Built Environment

In the built environment sector, a range of innovations are delivering environmental improvements with mixed success worldwide. The authors of this paper argue that a more “disruptive” form of innovation is needed to bring about significant and systemic change within the sector. Critical to this transition is the development of new behaviours and values. In particular, built environment professionals need to become active change agents in cultivating these new behaviours and values through the development of collaborative visions, scenarios, practices, and ideas. This paper identifies and discusses the critical role that design (in its broadest sense) can play in this process. Drawing on a comprehensive review of literature, the authors highlight a number of transformational opportunities for cross professional learning and sharing between design and built environment disciplines in achieving environmental innovation (eco-innovation). The paper also considers several design-based concepts that have a potential application in the built environment sector including: design thinking, social innovation (human-centered), and disruptive innovation (transformational) approaches. The research findings will assist in building the capabilities of designers and innovators to create sustainable solutions to global problems, and in supporting the social diffusion of systems-changing ideas in the built environment sector.

Statistical methods for electromyography data and associated problems

This thesis proposes three novel models which extend the statistical methodology for motor unit number estimation, a clinical neurology technique. Motor unit number estimation is important in the treatment of degenerative muscular diseases and, potentially, spinal injury. Additionally, a recent and untested statistic to enable statistical model choice is found to be a practical alternative for larger datasets. The existing methods for dose finding in dual-agent clinical trials are found to be suitable only for designs of modest dimensions. The model choice case-study is the first of its kind containing interesting results using so-called unit information prior distributions.

Innovative design : developing strategies to improve developer attitudes to sustainable housing

The literature advocates more widespread adoption of a particular type of house – a manufactured high performance green house and/or house components (MHPGH) and this is the focus of the research proposal outlined in this conceptual paper. The aim of the current paper is to outline a robust program of work to improve adoption of MHPGH. The contribution of houses to climate change is investigated, the conservatism of the construction industry is documented, a conceptual framework through which to understand the problem is presented; a program of research to bring about change is outlined; and the benefits of doing so are summarised. The contribution of the paper is the presentation of novel theory and methods to address sustainability problems in the construction industry. Future work will involve execution of the proposal. A limitation of the paper is that the effectiveness of the proposed theory and methods are yet to be tested.

Improving the teaching and learning of steel structural design

Engineering students are best able to understand theory when one explains it in relation to realistic problems and its practical applications. Teaching theory in isolation has led to lower levels of comprehension and motivation and a correspondingly higher rate of failure. At Queensland University of Technology, a number of new methods have been introduced recently to improve the teaching and learning of steel structural design at undergradt1ate level. In the basic steel structures subject a project-based teaching method was introduced in which the students were required to analyse, design and build the lightest I most efficient steel columns for a given target capacity. A design assignment involving simple, but real structures was also introduced in the basic steel structures subject. Both these exercises simulated realistic engineering problems from the early years of the course and produced a range of benefits. Improvements to the teaching and learning was also made through integration of a number of related structural engineering subjects and by the introduction of animated computer models and laboratory models. This paper presents the details of all these innovative methods which improved greatly the students' understanding of the steel structures design process.

A Fixed Order Model Matching Approach for the Design of Robust Power System Oscillation Damper

This book focuses on how evolutionary computing techniques benefit engineering research and development tasks by converting practical problems of growing complexities into simple formulations, thus largely reducing development efforts. This book begins with an overview of the optimization theory and modern evolutionary computing techniques, and goes on to cover specific applications of evolutionary computing to power system optimization and control problems.

Design thinking frameworks as transformative cross-disciplinary pedagogy

Final report for the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. "This seed project ‘Design thinking frameworks as transformative cross-disciplinary pedagogy’ aimed to examine the way design thinking strategies are used across disciplines to scaffold the development of student attributes in the domain of problem solving and creativity in order to enhance the nation’s capacity for innovation. Generic graduate attributes associated with innovation, creativity and problem solving are considered to be amongst the most important of all targeted attributes (Bradley Review of Higher Education, 2009). The project also aimed to gather data on how academics across disciplines conceptualised design thinking methodologies and strategies. Insights into how design thinking strategies could be embedded at the subject level to improve student outcomes were of particular interest in this regard. A related aim was the investigation of how design thinking strategies could be used by academics when designing new and innovative subjects and courses." Case Study 3: QUT Community Engaged Learning Lab Design Thinking/Design Led Innovation Workshop by Natalie Wright Context "The author, from the discipline area of Interior Design in the QUT School of Design, Faculty of Creative Industries, is a contributing academic and tutor for The Community Engaged Learning Lab, which was initiated at Queensland University of Technology in 2012. The Lab facilitates university-wide service-learning experiences and engages students, academics, and key community organisations in interdisciplinary action research projects to support student learning and to explore complex and ongoing problems nominated by the community partners. In Week 3, Semester One 2013, with the assistance of co-lead Dr Cara Wrigley, Senior Lecturer in Design led Innovation, a Masters of Architecture research student and nine participating industry-embedded Masters of Research (Design led Innovation) facilitators, a Design Thinking/Design led Innovation workshop was conducted for the Community Engaged Learning Lab students, and action research outcomes published at 2013 Tsinghua International Design Management Symposium, December 2013 in Shenzhen, China (Morehen, Wright, & Wrigley, 2013)."

Space Station Design Report 2007

Design Proposal for the Blue Lunar Support Hub The conceptual design of a space station is one of the most challenging tasks in aerospace engineering. The history of the space station Mir and the assembly of the International Space Station demonstrate that even within the assembly phase quick solutions have to be found to cope with budget and technical problems or changing objectives. This report is the outcome of the conceptual design of the Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW) 2007, which took place as an international design project from the 16th to the 21st of July 2007 at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR), University of Sydney, Australia. The participants were tasked to design a human-tended space station in low lunar orbit (LLO) focusing on supporting future missions to the moon in a programmatic context of space exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The design included incorporating elements from systems engineering to interior architecture. The customised, intuitive, rapid-turnaround software tools enabled the team to successfully tackle the complex problem of conceptual design of crewed space systems. A strong emphasis was put on improving the integration of the human crew, as it is the major contributor to mission success, while always respecting the boundary conditions imposed by the challenging environment of space. This report documents the methodology, tools and outcomes of the Space Station Design Workshop during the SSDW 2007. The design results produced by Team Blue are presented.

An Uber for apartments could solve some common housing problems

Speculative property developers, criticised for building dog boxes and the slums of tomorrow, are generally hated by urban planners and the public alike. But the doors of state governments are seemingly always open to developers and their lobbyists. Politicians find it hard to say no to the demands of the development industry for concessions because of the contribution housing construction makes to the economic bottom line and because there is a need for well located housing. New supply is also seen as a solution to declining housing affordability. Classical economic theory however is too simplistic for housing supply. Instead, an offshoot of Game Theory - Market Design – not only offers greater insight into apartment supply but also can simultaneously address price, design and quality issues. New research reveals the most significant risk in residential development is settlement risk – when buyers fail to proceed with their purchase despite there being a pre-sale contract. At the point of settlement, the developer has expended all the project funds only to see forecast revenue evaporate. While new buyers may be found, this process is likely to strip the profitability out of the project. As the global financial crisis exposed, buyers are inclined to walk if property values slide. This settlement problem reflects a poor legal mechanism (the pre-sale contract), and a lack of incentive for truthfulness. A second problem is the search costs of finding buyers. At around 10% of project costs, pre-sales are more expensive to developers than finance. This is where Market Design comes in.

Enriching architectural design education through interactive displays and local community engagement

Designers have a social responsibility to deal with the needs, issues, and problems that their clients and communities are confronted with. Students of design require opportunities to reflect on their role as social facilitators to develop an attitude towards community engagement through different phases and aspects of their careers. However, current design courses are challenged by compressed timeframes and fragmented scenarios of different academic requirements that do not actively teach community engagement. This paper outlines a participatory and technological approach that was employed to address these issues within the teaching of Architecture and Urban Design at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. A multi-phase community based research project with actual stakeholders was implemented over a two-year period. Approximately 150 students in the final year of the Bachelor of Design-Architecture; 10 students in the Master of Architecture and 15 students in the Master of Design-Urban Design have informed and influenced each others’ learning through the teaching and research nexus facilitated by this project. The technical approach was implemented in form of a bespoke digital platform that supported the display and discussion of digital media on a series of interactive touch walls. The platform allowed students to easily upload their final designs onto large interactive surfaces, where visitors could explore the media and provide comments. Through the use of this technical platform and the introduction of neogeography, students have been able to broaden their level of interaction and support their learning experience through external structured and unstructured feedback from the local community. Students have not only been exposed to community representatives, but they also have been working in parallel on a specific case study providing each other, across different years and courses, material for reflection and data to structure their design activities.

Embedding metacognitive skills in spatial design

Metacognitive skills are considered to be essential for graduates from higher education institutions. In teaching spatial design, a fundamental aspect of student learning is the ability to ‘frame’ problems, generate solutions and explore possibilities of different solutions. This article proposes an innovative approach to design education through the implementation of strategies into the design process. The externalisation of implicit and tacit learning through metacognition connects theoretical concepts to interior design process and practice, as well as allowing students to engage and critically analyse issues surrounding theory and practice, thus equipping them with the skills as future design professionals.