Applied Innovation Design Postgraduate Taught - September 2024/25* Entry

[0:03] So on this course we can actually work with companies, industries...That Bangor University is offering a course which actually allowed me to work with an actual industrial problem 
[0:12] I did my Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at an University in India so I'm currently doing my second MSc in in Applied Innovation Design. 
[0:20] I would say I've developed myself a lot after coming to this course. I've developed my CAD skills, the design software skills, my finite analysis and also the thinking
process. 
[0:33] This course actually taught me how to think how to approach a problem
and the lecturers! Other universities if you want to go and meet lecturers or
professors you have to send them an email you have to ask for permission. 
[0:46] Here you just have to you just have to come in and then you can meet them whenever you want and then like they'll talk to you like more than one hour explaining very clearly what you need to do what you should not do I've never found it in any any of the previous
degree I've done yeah it's completely different.
[1:04] In the last 6 months I took two projects in two different industries - the first project is with a company called International Safety Components. They are based in Bangor so they are a safety equipment manufacturing company.
[1:16] The project that that I'm currently doing is with a company called Key
Optic. Key Optic is is a military based company but now they want to expand into commercial market so the the first product they want to launch is a thermal image camera so I am currently designing a concept design for the for them and we actually want to design a
product for firefighters.
[1:36]  So now we are designing a thermal image camera for firefighters. So how this goes actually helped me in in securing a job... As I said earlier, at the group stage we have to work with other people we, have to work with strangers, to come up with a solution for the problem like in this course, in this Applied Innovation Design course, we actually have some of the tasks like that, so that's that really helped me in the group stage and in the interview stage. 
[2:06] And the presentation stage they almost focused on the strategy of the
company so I've done the strategy course - it actually helped me to prepare for that presentation and the interview. [Music]

[0:04] After I finished my levels I went to  Bangor University to study Product Design,  
during those three years we worked on various  projects, live projects with real companies.  
[0:12] Before graduating then I got the offer to come and  work here at 5th wheel from one of my lecturers, went for an interview and got the job luckily and  then after further discussions then the company offered to sponsor the Master's course which  obviously was a great bonus [Music]   
[0:29] So, 5th wheel is a family based company in Rhuallt North  Wales. We manufacture electric caravans, touring  caravans. Caravans are exported all across Europe,  New Zealand, Australia.   
[0:40] It's grown massively over the years. The Master's course allowed me to bring  the skills I already had but take the next step  and bringing kind of maybe a more managerial side  as well. You know, design thinking is it kind of changes your perspective of how you look at things where maybe before I would just do a task in one  
[0:55] way but now I see kind of variations of different  ways to do it. I work here you know Monday to  Thursday and then on the Friday I'm in University  learning and then expanding all my skills. There's  obviously that jump from University life to  working life. The company here, 5th wheel, made me feel comfortable instantly. I'm a Welsh  first speaker - being able to speak through medium of Welsh was always a bonus and comfortable  thing for me supported by all the lecturers.  
[1:18] They've got so much vast expertise in so many  different industries, you know and bringing those together, yeah, it's like the dream thing really.  You're always looking for talented people to join the business that's the big thing trying to find  local talent especially so when you bring someone in that's that's that's got that talent you want  to try and keep encouraging them and helping them  
[1:38] develop even more. The culmination of Ciron's  work came into looking at GRP mouldings and  working with GRP, bringing manufacturing in-house.  In all fairness he actually has been paramount to  the success of that as a project, especially with  the design thinking side of things, you know, he's  
[1:51] done a course on innovation and I'm starting to  see that innovative thinking in how he approaches  tasks, how he reports to us and how he he talks  about the things that he's found and he's been  really instrumental in developing a design process  that we've used now across all the models. When  you look at what he can do and what he can bring  to the business it's a two-way thing -we've got  
[2:12] to help him and he's got to work with us and bring  that talent and show what he can do to us as well. I say the highlight of the course for me was  the kind of the last module which was the  dissertation or the artefact and reports. In  that kind of module I got the opportunity to  
[2:27] kind of work on something I wanted to work on but  as well this, it kind of fitted with the company  I was working for. Thank you to 5th wheel, I  could work and concentrate on what I want to  do and also develop the company's needs. In  that module I learned so much new skills you know thanks again to the lecturers, you know  that transition from theory to practical was  
[2:45] really nice. I think the main advice is to kind  of look around first, kind of do your research, don't stick to one place or one idea  first you know we've got plenty of time,  don't rush and there's so many opportunities  locally or maybe further away in the UK [Music].