Using an Outdoor Learning Space to Teach Sustainability and Material Processes in HE product Design.

The world is facing environmental changes that are increasingly affecting how we think about manufacturing, the consumption of products and use of resources. Within the HE product design community, thinking and designing sustainability’ has evolved to become a natural part of the curriculum. Paradoxical as the rise in awareness of sustainability increases there is growing concern within HE product design of the loss of workshop facilities and as a consequence a demise in teaching traditional object-making skills and material experimentation. We suggest the loss of workshops and tangible ‘learning by making skills’ also creates a lost opportunity for a rich learning resource to address sustainable thinking, design and manufacture ‘praxis’ within HE design education. Furthermore, as learning spaces are frequently discussed in design research, there seems to be little focus on how the use of an outdoor environment might influence learning outcomes particularly with regard to material teaching and sustainability. This 'case study' of two jewellery workshops, used outdoor learning spaces to explore both its impact on learning outcomes and to introduce some key principles of sustainable working methodologies and practices. Academics and students mainly from Norway and Scotland collaborated on this international research project. Participants made models from disposable packaging materials, which were cast in tin, in the sand on a local beach, using found timber to create a heat source for melting the metal. This approach of using traditional making skills, materials and nature was found to be a relevant contribution to a sustainable discourse.

Early-Holocene environments in the Wadi Faynan, Jordan

Hunt, C. Elrishi, H. Gilbertson, D. Grattan, J. McLaren, S. Pyatt, B. Rushworth, G. Barker, G. Early-Holocene environments in the Wadi Faynan, Jordan. The Holocene. 2004. 14,6 pp 921-930

Dawn on the hills of T'ang, or, Missions in China / by Harlan P. Beach.

http://www.archive.org/details/dawnonthehillsof008853mbp

Comparisons between “sand blast” and “centripetal effect accelerator” type erosion testers

There are two major types of erosion testing devices that are used throughout the world for quantifying particle impact erosion against a solid surface. The first of these uses pressurised air to accelerate abrasive particles through a nozzle so that they impinge upon a target specimen. The second adopts a rotating disc to accelerate abrasive particles using the centripetal effect so that they impinge upon a series of targets arranged around the periphery of the disc. This paper reports the findings of a collaborative project that was designed to compare the performance and results obtained from a rig of each of the two types mentioned above. The sand blast type rig was provided by The Department of Powder Science Technology (POSTEC) at The Telemark Technological Research and Development Centre (TEL-TEK), Porsgrunn, Norway while the centripetal effect accelerator was provided by The Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, University of Greenwich, London, UK. The test programme included tests against a wide range of materials that are commonly used in pneumatic handling facilities. (Pneumatic handling is a means of conveying and transporting powders and granular solid materials in bulk in industrial process plant, through pipelines using a gas as the carrier medium.) Olivine sand was used as the abrasive and it was projected against the test specimens at velocities and concentrations commensurate with those seen in pneumatic conveyors. In all instances the materials used in the test programme were taken from the same batch so that scatter of experimental results due to specimen variation was minimised. The paper contains a series of recommendations for erosion testing equipment. A discussion based on the results and their applicability to the prediction of wear in pneumatic conveyors concludes the paper.