Lars Eriksson, course manager and Professor Industrial Design at JTH, demonstrates the bag holder for soft bags that a group of Master's students at JTH have developed for the Thule Group's Caprock roof platform for cars.
Master's students developed prototypes with companies
Thule Group, Kinnarps and Hags are some of the ten companies that have developed prototypes for new products with Master’s students at the School of Engineering (JTH) at Jönköping University (JU).
“Fun and exciting to work on a real case with a company,” says Robin Herbertsson, one of the Master of Science in Engineering students.
Robin Herbertsson, Master of Science in Engineering student at JTH.
About 50 students from various Master's programmes at JTH have divided into groups to work with implemented product development projects with ten companies. The task was to develop a prototype for a new product or to further develop an existing product. The student groups produced three proposals and the companies selected one of them, which the students continued to work with.
Some of the projects were remanufacturing of furniture with Kinnarps, design of a playground with Hags in Aneby, and developing a new bathroom cabinet with CNC carpentry.
"They grow and mature as engineers"
“This arrangement gives the companies the opportunity to try out ideas and concepts that they otherwise might not have had time to do. At the same time, the students come in with fresh eyes and ideas as well as other perspectives. They have to take a great deal of responsibility for the prototypes and demonstrate both independent work and group dynamics. They grow and mature in their role as engineers,” says Lars Eriksson, course manager and Professor Industrial Design at JTH.
The students also have check ups and final reports with the companies.
“The companies were generally very satisfied with the students' results. It is a good way for them to meet students and see if they fit into their organization. Furthermore, it gives our students insight into companies in several different industries”, says Lars Eriksson.
See and learn how companies work
Robin Herbertsson was part of the group that developed a bag attachment for a roof platform for cars together with the Thule Group.
“They will not use our product directly, but they were inspired in the further development of the bag attachment. It's always fun to see and learn how companies work. We learned more about how Thule Group works with different concepts and how they produce products that their customers want,” says Robin Herbertsson.
A handle that slows down the speed when jumping down from a platform and chutes for water or game marbles were two proposals that a group of students came up with together with the playground manufacturer HAGS in Aneby.
A group of master's students at JTH have developed a height adjustable changing table together with ROL Ergo.
- Professor Industrial Design
- School of Engineering
- lars.eriksson@ju.se
- +46 36-10 1668
