Realisation in Product Design International Semester (30 ECTS) FALL 2013
TABEL OF CONTENTS Howest, University College West Flanders 3 Where will I study? 4 The five pillars of Industrial Product Design 4 Course concept 4 Course overview 5 Academic recognition 5 Prerequisites 6 Timing and location 7 Bits, Bytes, Books and Buns 8 Tuition fee and Accommodation 9 Registration and Deadline 10 Contact 10 2
Howest, University College West Flanders Howest is a dynamic university college, focused on innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Our core values serve empower care continue to stimulate an open, pluralistic and international outlook on education, research and service to society. Howest is a member of Ghent University Association, which provides high-quality higher education to about 1/3 of Flanders student population. We offer degree programmes in Architecture, Health Care, Business and Management, Industrial Sciences and Technology, Education and Social Sciences, on 4 campuses in the historical cities of Bruges and Kortrijk, in the province of West Flanders, Belgium. Over the years, Howest has built a solid reputation in application-oriented scientific research, services and continuous education, working with distinguished academic, social profit and enterprise partners in Europe and all over the world. Our students and staff have plenty of opportunities to explore the globe, thanks to regional, national and international networks, scholarships and exchange programmes. Howest has coordinated highly successful national and international projects and is an active partner in many others. We constantly develop our course offer in English in order to be an attractive academic destination for students from abroad as well, who will find here an open, vibrant, cosmopolitan and friendly environment. We warmly welcome students from our Erasmus and overseas partner institutions for an exchange period. At this moment, Howest offers one full degree programme in English, the Bachelor of Digital Arts and Entertainment (www.digitalartsandentertainment.com) as well as 8 English taught international semesters in 5 different study areas, each of them representing at least 30 ECTS: > International Business Management I (Sept-Jan) > International Business Management II (Febr-June) > Applied Computer Sciences Fall (Sept-Jan) > Applied Computer Sciences Spring (Febr-June) > Realisation in Product Design (Sept-Jan) - NEW > Visualisation and Communication in Product Design (Febr-June) - NEW > Multimedia and Communication Management (Feb-June) Studying in Bruges or Kortrijk includes having a series of very attractive locations within a stone s throw: the Belgian coast as well as our Flemish art cities like Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent... You can also reach famous European places like Paris, London, Amsterdam, Cologne etc. in a one or two hours train journey. 3
WHERE WILL I STUDY? You will study in Kortrijk, with its design region, week van het ontwerp, de kreun, budalab on the buda kustencentrum, interieur and many innovative companies, a nice place for any creative spirit. All classes will take place at the Howest Industrial Design Center. An open design campus, where students can prototype, brainstorm, create all their idea s. (http://www.industrialdesigncenter.be/) Your teachers are experienced and will share their up-to-date knowledge as well as broaden your understanding of their field of activity. All Howest staff will warmly welcome you. THE FIVE PILLARS OF PRODUCT DESIGN Every industrial product designer creates products. He or she always starts with a concept, which finally is being materialized. During this design process, the designer takes into account technical possibilities, social trends and needs, design and functionality. This requires both creativity and technical insight. Design and creativity, engineering, user and usage (user centered design), flexible production and multimedia, presentation: these five pillars are the ingredients of our study program. Read more about them in the brochure on our Bachelor program Industrial Product Design. COURSE CONCEPT During this semester, the students will focus on the business plan and the industrialisation of a product. In international teams they will create, materialize and launch a product into the market. 4
Course overview > Business management (6ECTS) > Industrialisation (6ECTS) > Design and prototyping (12ECTS) > 3D CAD (6ECTS) All students must bring their laptop but buying software is not necessary. All software needed is open source or paid for by Howest. ACADEMIC RECOGNITION This international semester is an integrated part of the Howest Bachelor course Industrial Product Design. Howest fully applies the ECTS grading system and awards credits for the successfully achieved course units. After concluding the semester, all students receive an official ECTS Transcript of Records and a Certificate. 5
PREREQUISITES > Minimum 2 successfully completed semesters or an equivalent of 60 ECTS, in a Bachelor program in product design, interior design, industrial design, mechanical design, packaging design, furniture design,. This will need to be confirmed by means of an official certificate, a survey of completed courses, transcripts of records or a signed letter from the sending university. > Sufficient command of the English language (both oral and written communication). The minimum level required is the B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference. http://www.languages.unimaas.nl/niveaus_common_european_framework_reference/cef_english.htm Applicants need to provide proof for this in one of the following ways: - An official certificate or score report referring to the European Framework or from one of the recognized language tests (e.g. TOEFL internet based 87/paper based 550 or IETLS - 5.5, no partial results below 5). - A signed confirmation letter from your university, stating that your English language skills reach the B2 level and thus are sufficient to attend courses, participate in classroom and examination activities, present your project and its results. The following applicants are not required to document their English skills: - applicants from countries having English as their national language - applicants attending an English taught degree programme at their home institution - applicants who send proof of having succeeded at least one year of an English taught higher education programme Howest reserves the right to contact the applicant or the sending university to verify this information. Applications without sufficient proof of previous study or language proficiency will not be taken into consideration. > All Howest and exchange students should bring their own laptop, with all necessary and officially licenced software. The course overview above mentions the specific software (if any) necessary for the course unit. Howest applies a very strict policy on the use of legal software. > Non exchange students can not attend this international semester at Howest. 6
TIMING & LOCATION The course takes place in Howest Kortrijk, campus Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 5, 8500 Kortrijk. The campus can be reached very easily by public transportation, or is a 10 minute walk from the railway and bus station. The actual lessons start 23rd September 2013.The students will be informed in time about the exact day they are expected for the welcome session and course introduction, which will be in the week of September 16th. The Fall semester ends January 31st 2014. From October 28th to November 1st there is one week of Autumn holiday. Christmas Holiday is between December 23rd and January 5th. The month of January is reserved for examinations. The official second chance exam session takes place between 18/8 and 08/09/2014. The Howest academic calendar is available in English on www.howest.be/english. Students can start early September by attending the 3-weeks Erasmus Intensive Language Course, EILC Dutch level I beginners 3 ECTS, offered in Kortrijk by a neighbouring university (http://www.epos-vlaanderen.be/?categoryid=355). Apply in time with the EILC organising university and let us know in your Howest Application Form if you intend to do so. 7
BITS, BYTES, BOOKS AND BUNS As a Howest student, you have access to our modern computer infrastructure. Via the laptop project, wireless internet, the electronic study platform Leho and numerous other ICT facilities, you have everything you need for school and self-study assignments, group work, research, etc. Each Howest student also receives a personal e-mail address. You order your courses online to later collect them at the course service Cursoa in the main building. At the BEEP, you can study in peace, meet up with your project group and work on your self-study assignments. You have access to online journals and e-books. You can also consult a number of digital sources at home via a VPN connection with the Howest network. You can consult the catalogue of all Howest multimedia centers at http://bib.howest.be. As a Howest student, you can consult books and journals at all Howest multimedia centers or you can check them out for free. Each class day, campus restaurant t Obee serves breakfast, hot and cold meals of the day, soup and sandwiches (also for vegetarians). 8
Tuition Fee AND ACCOMMODATION The international semester is tuition free, since it is only meant for exchange students from partner universities. Course or other materials and the cost for occasional trips will have to be paid cash on location. We recommend you to stay in Kortrijk, where all the classes will take place. A student room in Kortrijk will cost you between 200 and 350 per month. Stuvo Howest, our students services, will assist you in your search for accommodation if you wish. You can also look for accommodation via www.kotwest.be. 9
REGISTRATION AND DEADLINE The registration deadline for the international semester Realisation in Product Design is 21st June 2013. Send your Howest Application Form to international.office@howest.be. You can download this form at www.howest.be/application. Please also fill out the Learning Agreement. CONTACT For more information about the content contact Mr. Nils Ferlin International spokesperson of the BA Industrial Product Design Marksesteenweg 58 8500 Kortrijk Belgium Tel +32 (0)56 24 12 68 nils.ferlin@howest.be To apply, send your documents to Howest International Office Marksesteenweg 58, 8500 Kortrijk Belgium Tel +32 (0)56 24 12 90 Fax +32 (0)56 24 12 92 international.office@howest.be For all further information concerning study mobility to Howest, have a look at our Practical information package for incoming students : www.howest.be/english. www.howest.be/practicalinfopackage. 10