The Design Factory Global Network (DFGN) continues to grow, bringing together innovation centers that operate within the university and research institutes where the METU Design Factory is a member. The DFGN allows for the realization of radical innovations through cross-cultural and cross-border collaboration, independent of time frames, through the collaboration language and methods offered.

The network, which is a member of 13 innovation centers operating in different countries of the world, provides hands-on training for real and challenging industrial projects for five continental students; appropriate environment for the development of new ideas, together with leading academics and other initiatives for businesses; for researchers, they provide interdisciplinary research opportunities with industry partners.

Representatives of member centers will meet in Geneva for International Design Factory Week 2016 events on 12-16 December and develop cooperation plans and projects between centers.

DFGN member innovation centers as of November 2016:
-Aalto University Design Factory
-Tongji University Sino-Finnish Centre
-Swinburne University of Technology Design Factory
-Duoc Design Factory
-CERN Ideasquare
-Design Factory Korea
-Porto Design Factort
-PhilaU Nexus Design Factory
-Frisian Design Factory
-METU Design Factory
-Design Factory Javeriana
-NYC Design Factory
-RTU Design Factory

DFGN Web Page: http://dfgn.org/

With support from the METU Technopolis and sponsored by industry and NGOs, METU Design Factory provides training, equipment and infrastructure to interdisciplinary student teams for collaborative design projects.
IDS brings students from different disciplines together in interdisciplinary teams to develop innovative products.

IDS-3 will be conducted as an elective course (ID403 Collaborative Design) offered to all departments in 2016 Fall semester.

The Second Interdisciplinary Design Studio (IDS2) had come to an end with a glorious closing ceremony on April 1st at the METU Culture and Convention Center. IDS2, an extra-curricular activity organized by METU Design Factory, aimed to bring faculty and students to work on interdisciplinary collaborative projects for eight weeks. Thirty-eight students and twelve faculty from various departments attended the IDS2. Six student teams were established and each one was given a problem or a concept to address by industry partners. The six industry and NGO partners are as follows: Arcelik, BAMA, Eczacibasi, FNSS, Roketsan, and the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (SGDD).

At the closing ceremony, each team made a presentation and demo for 10 minutes, which was followed by a five-minute critique by Prof. Arzu Gonenc Sorguc (Dept. of Architecture), Asso. Dr. Adil Oran (Dept. of Business), and Hanzade Cicek (Vice President for METU-Technopolis).

ATOK team’s project, sponsored by FNSS, was designing a leverage & rail mechanism for armored vehicles to cross trenches and ditches. Eczacibasi sponsored Dustbusters to develop a robotic mechanism to clean shower trays. The challenge of sleeping in microgravity was tackled by Feza-i Azrak, sponsored by Roketsan, by creating a sleep pod utilizing centripetal acceleration. There were social responsibility projects as well. Harmony, designed a portable empathy room to raise awareness of asylum seekers in Turkey and SGDD’s activities on the matter. Nos Curabit, supported by BAMA, developed a rehabilitation and exercise ball for children between 3 and 6 years old who are suffering from cerebral palsy and juvenile arthritis. PiHola focused on user experience research. Sponsored by Arcelik, they developed “sense frame”, which is a module to capture the user experience in their natural environment and conducts data mining on the collective datasets.

After the group presentations Prof. Volkan Atalay, Vice President of METU, thanked the sponsors for their contributions to the DTS2. The closing ceremony ended with a reception and exhibition where the student groups demonstrated their models and prototypes to the guests.

Agenda

17:00 – Introduction

17:15 – Project presentations

18:45 – Thanks to sponsors & supporters

19:00 – Reception & Exhibition

IDS-2 Technology Partner

ODTÜ Teknokent A.Ş.

Sponsors & Supporters

Arçelik

Bama Teknoloji

Eczacıbaşı

FNSS Savunma Sistemleri

Roketsan

Sığınmacılar ve Göçmenlerle Dayanışma Derneği

Design Thinking: The Creative Power of Teams by Prof. Ulrich Weinberg (Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam)

When: 18.3/2016 02:00-04:00 PM

Where: METU Culture and Convention Center – Kemal Kurdas Hall

Since June 2007 director of “School of Design Thinking” at HPI Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam. Studied fine arts and design at the Academies of Fine Arts in Munich and Berlin. 1980 to 1986 freelance work as TV graphics designer at public and private production houses. Since 1986 specialized on 3D computer animation (mental images, ART+COM, etc.) on scientific, industrial and art projects for companies like ARD, BMW, Daimler Benz, Siemens, Schering, Telekom, ZDF. Founder of the companies TERRATOOLS and CYPARADE, specializing on 3D animation, simulation and interactive 3D projects such as computer games and cross media projects. Since 1994 Mr. Weinberg is holding a lifetime professorship for computer animation at the Film & Television Academy Babelsberg (HFF). Vice president for research, development and international relations for four years. 2003 Co-Initiator of the cross-university project “n-space – Innovation Center for Nonlinear Media”. Since 2004 Visiting Professor at CUC Communication University of China, Beijing and there since 2014 honorary director of the Design Thinking Innovation Center Beijing. Since November 2014 elected board member of the DGQ German Society for Quality .

What is Interdisciplinary Design Studio (IDS)?

IDS is an extra-curricular educational activity offered by METU DF, which brings students from different disciplines together in interdisciplinary teams to develop innovative products.

With support from the METU Technopolis and sponsored by industry and NGOs, METU Design Factory provides training, equipment and infrastructure to interdisciplinary student teams for collaborative design projects.

In the first week of IDS, through a series of seminars and workshops, the students receive training on design processes and soft skills. The remaining follows the steps of design process: conceptual design, detailed design, and prototyping. Each team is mentored by a team that consists of academics and industry representatives.