New Product Development at St. Aidan's

Here in Design & Technology, we are seeing sound understanding and application of new material and process technology in all material areas. The 'freedom' students have in terms of their individual product development work has enabled exploration of a vast and inspired range of needs, existing solutions, latest materials and techniques. The different exam boards allow for a variety of coursework outcomes. For the AQA Product Design course we chose to produce portfolio-based evidence to show-case a selection of work in response to the stages of the design process. With EDEXCEL Food Technology we have maintained the theme of one project, illustrating coverage through development of a specific product.

In Food Technology students have been making creative and individual use of edible print technology for savoury and sweet product development. This appears to be the only realistic option for CAD/CAM within Food Technology and certainly one that offers countless avenues to explore.

One of the past A level students focused on this for developing educational children's food products. Her aim was to help children understand the origins, both geographical and nutritional, of a range of popular multicultural products. This general idea of information-giving through edible print material is already in evidence, for instance the soil association labels on the large supermarkets' bakery style organic bread.

Unfortunately this exciting practice is not without its pitfalls, the principal one being the longevity of the equipment. Unless in constant use the printer heads quickly dry up, making this a costly practice since the heads need replacing after each 'dry spell'. I hope someone comes up with a solution to this soon as it is frustrating for the students as well as myself when such a fabulous chance for creativity is often flattened before it's even begun.

Students from years 8 and 10 set up a production line selling printed biscuits on this year's Open Day. The design included colourful text as well as a downloaded image of the school's stained glass window. The clarity of detail and quality of finish in the end product were absolutely superb.

Guided by the AQA Product Design specification we have been able to offer students a first class opportunity to investigate and apply CAD/CAM in other material areas, through rapid prototyping and computerised equipment for designing and manufacturing.

It is this scope for experimenting and producing industry-standard prototypes that puts the CAD/CAM experience into a league of its own. The products the students are developing now offer an immediate 'Wow factor' that not only secures high grades but is the magic ingredient for making A level Design & Technology such a fantastic choice for a wide range of youngsters.

The principle pieces of software that we use in Product Design are Pro Desktop, Boxford Rapid Pro and Boxford V10 software for the CNC miller and lathe, the laser cutter. In Textiles a variety of CAD/CAM applications are used, eg. computerised sewing machines and 'Speedstep' for precise modelling and printing of students' own designer fabrics

Closely following industrial CAD practice on Pro Desktop students explore design alternatives, model different materials and finishes and simulate a product's one-off manufacture, using either Boxford or Mini Cam software. Once satisfied they can then make a prototype, using one of the CNC pieces of equipment or the Rapid Pro software and the Roland CAMM 1 tool. The latter was used with great effectiveness for producing a scaled prototype of a bicycle helmet, in this way design faults and manufacturing constraints could be identified and rectified before committing to full scale production.

Students continue to select from a diverse range of materials as appropriate for their chosen development. This year carefully worked wood pieces have stood alongside the most modern design elements, for instance the range of fully packaged resin gear knob prototypes. This flexibility in context and material choice allows each and every youngster to develop with their design.

Meanwhile students working with textiles have discovered a wealth of creative paths towards product realisation. Images are scanned or downloaded from the internet, manipulated and then transferred on to fabric with the computerised sewing machine. A range of techniques is used to model different colour and texture-ways for designs;

Meanwhile students net the inspiration for their designs from far and wide, reflecting the latest fashion and fabric trends. The last few years has seen an explosion of fitted corset styles that have demanded close attention to detail for boning, lacing and overall gothic vamp look! Students continue to express their creativity through machine embroidery, fabric layering and bonding, printing, dyeing and enhancement.

Another highlight from the recent A level textile product range was the laminated sample tunic. Having developed this truly inspirational design the student made up a full scale model in paper. This enabled her to shape the individual squares and create the overall fitted result. The next stage was to compile a bank of sample squares including dyed and printed fabric swatches, machined work, standard component decorations and paper and plastic pieces which she then stylishly linked together. The end result.a stunning example of lateral thinking in Design & Technology!

Is there no end to the remarkable vision and undoubted talent of our youngsters? No evidence of it drying up here!