Exhibition excellence for design students
Tue, 22 May 2012 16:08:00 BST
University course members are invited to take part in the world’s biggest sustainability showcase
At the EcoBuild exhibition - University of Huddersfield architecture and textile students, with Architecture Subject Leader Carl Meddings (second from right).
THE bright ideas and colourful concepts of a group of design students at the University of Huddersfield have been catching the eye of multi-national companies and major exhibition organisers.
A selection of undergraduates currently taking the BA degree in Surface Design, plus three recent graduates, exhibited a stand – as the course has done for the past five years – at the 2012 Surface Design Show in London. Their display impressed Joel Butler, the director of Ecobuild, which is the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment.
He asked Surface Design course leader Jo Harris if she and her students could exhibit a stand at Ecobuild, which was due to take place in just four weeks’ time. She jumped at the chance and when the huge exhibition took place, the University of Huddersfield contribution created a lot of interest and resulted in important contacts being made – including possible guest speakers for the University and the potential for work placements for students.
“We got such a good response and we will be back at Ecobuild in 2013,” said Jo.
For the 2012 Surface Design Show, the Huddersfield students exhibited work they had done on behalf of two industrial partners, including Ege Carpets, one of the world’s biggest and most technically-advanced flooring companies, with its headquarters in Denmark and a design studio in Manchester that has University of Huddersfield alumni on its staff – including Senior Designer Debbie Abbott, who graduated five years ago in textile design.
The current Surface Design students have also been working for the first time with Huddersfield-based Novaglaze Gardner and Newton, one of the world’s longest established firms in the field of specialist glass production.
When the time came to exhibit a stand at Ecobuild – which takes place at the ExCel Centre in London – there was extra space available, so recent graduates were invited to display their innovative work. They included Helen Dumkow, who creates wall tiles using recycled elastic bands, and Rebecca Fairley – currently studying for a Master of Research degree – whose concrete wall tiles embedded with recycled materials have generated massive levels of interest.
Now that the University has a presence at Ecobuild, the plan for next year’s show, says Jo Harris, is for Surface Design students to collaborate with colleagues on textile crafts and architecture courses, working on the theme of sustainability.
