Collaboration between The Glasgow School of Art, School of Design and University of Glasgow, James Watts School of Engineering delivers a unique opportunity for students to expand their creative and technical skills simultaneously for product design engineering.
The Retail Therapy project provides students with a hands-on opportunity to design, manufacture, and sell their own product designs from start to finish.
With access to Autodesk Fusion, students are prepared for successful future careers with real-world skills and experience.
At the intersection of creativity and engineering, The Glasgow School of Art (GSA) is committed to molding a new generation of product design engineers. A collaborative program between the school and the University of Glasgow, James Watts School of Engineering is doing just that.
“It’s very unusual in terms of an educational experience that the students and the staff have two lenses of education, one from an art school and one from a traditional university,” says Craig Whittet, Product Design Engineering, Head of Department, GSA. “These two cultures combined create graduates that are very different than those from other institutions.”
The Product Design Engineering (PDE) program takes them on many different learning journeys. It isn’t all just lecture-based and theoretical as evidenced by the school’s “Retail Therapy” project in year 4 of the 5-year Master of Engineering program.
Now in its 10th year, Retail Therapy provides students with commercial design experience, challenging them to design, make, market, and sell their own products both online and in retail shops. This immersive learning opportunity helps bridge the gap between academia and industry, building real-world skills in prototyping, marketing, manufacturing, and more.
Doris Chung is a PDE student experiencing the benefits of this hands-on education approach. Her path to product design started very early on. Growing up in Vietnam with Taiwanese roots, Chung’s parents were involved with manufacturing and her earliest playground was at their factory. When it came time to find a university, she was drawn to PDE’s program and philosophy.
“I see myself as a bridge—not just between design and engineering, but between cultures and processes,” she says. “I’ve grown up with manufacturing in Asia. Now, I’ve opened up more of my critical thinking and creativity at GSA. I’m gaining the advantage of not only knowing two sides of the world, but also two sides of the design process.”
For students in both the Bachelor and Master of Engineering programs, Autodesk Fusion is the foundation for their technical skills. Introduced early in their studies, students build confidence with the platform over time, eventually applying it to full-fledged projects.
This year, Chung participated in the Retail Therapy program where she designed and made an innovative flip calendar. The calendar project pushed Doris to design, prototype, and manufacture an entire product from scratch with Fusion playing a critical role in the process. She also used Fusion to design a high-fidelity master component that was then 3D printed and used for mold casting. This was an essential step in ensuring repeatability and precision across her pieces.
“Fusion helped me visualize the 3D wire structures of my calendar, especially the curves and spirals,” Chung says. “It’s not something you can just sketch out flat. I loved discovering how Fusion allowed me to create 3D sketches. I learned so much throughout the entire experience, and I can carry it with me into the future.”
What makes the PDE program stand out is the trajectory it sets for students. “We have graduates working all over the world,” Whittet says. “Several are at Apple, Dyson, Shark Ninja, Lego, and companies that are household names. We also have many former students who are incredibly entrepreneurial and founded their own companies.”
“Fusion democratizes technology,” he continues. “It gives our students access to industry-grade tools without barriers, and that sets them up for careers. When our alumni enter major companies or set up their own businesses, they're already equipped with the tools and the mindset to make an impact.”
That sentiment is echoed by Hugh Pizey, Year 4 lecturer and responsible for the Retail Therapy project, especially when it comes to the partnership with Autodesk.
“It’s unthinkable that we’d use anything other than Fusion now," Pizey says. “Autodesk’s support for PDE has helped the students develop the skills they need. The fact that Fusion is always freely available, and they can use it anytime shows a true investment in their future.”
