Brunel University London

Uxbridge

Industrial design and technology

kayong79

Is anyone studying Industrial design and technology at Brunel this year ?

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Reply 1

littlemissmidget123

Hi there,

I'm a 3rd year designer having just done placement. Brunel design is great and you'll really enjoy it! Any questions about the course or uni - ask away :biggrin:

Brunel University London

Uxbridge

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Reply 2

kayong79

What was the first year of the course like ?
Is there anything i can do over the summer to prepare

Reply 3

littlemissmidget123

Original post by kayong79

What was the first year of the course like ?
Is there anything i can do over the summer to prepare

Not going to lie, the course is pretty tough - be prepared to put in the hours. As long as you keep on top of the work and develop a thick skin you'll breeze through it. If you practice anything - look at practising your sketching, but you'll get plenty of time to do this in first year.

Reply 4

kayong79

will i be able to manage a part time job alongside the course

Reply 5

littlemissmidget123

Original post by kayong79

will i be able to manage a part time job alongside the course

Unless you really need the money honestly id advise against it. In first year you spend half the week in the workshops (much to the annoyance of final years like me!.. but anyway), and you cant get out of this - thus the rest of the week you are in lectures a lot of the time. In second year the workload just gets more, and final year is supposed to be horrible! But like i said before stay on top of things and you'll be fine.

If you really must work, id suggest trying to get a job within the university - i do design ambassador work (started in second year), and it was a bit of fun (plus i got a free lunch!) and fitted well around lectures etc. Likewise if you get a job outside of the university - try to get some flexible working hours - when deadlines come, they often come all at once, and during this time you wont want to work.

Look to get involved with clubs and societies in your spare time rather than working if possible.

Reply 6

kayong79

Thanks for all the info. How hard is it to find a job on campus ? (how early should i start looking)

Reply 7

littlemissmidget123

Original post by kayong79

Thanks for all the info. How hard is it to find a job on campus ? (how early should i start looking)

jobs can be pretty hard to find - start asap

Reply 8

Cahoony

Would you recommend to get any software packages on laptop for this course?

Reply 9

littlemissmidget123

Original post by Cahoony

Would you recommend to get any software packages on laptop for this course?

The Adobe suite (indesign, illustrator, photoshop) is essential, as well as solidworks. But most things yo can get free or heavily discounted as a student, so i'd hold off - everything is available in the computer labs anyway, so you wont be at a disadvantage

Reply 10

kayong79

after an Apple pro which laptop is good for designers ?

Reply 11

choua007

I'm starting in product design engineering this year so i was wondering if all the software you use works on mac. Thanks in advance

Reply 12

littlemissmidget123

Original post by choua007

I'm starting in product design engineering this year so i was wondering if all the software you use works on mac. Thanks in advance

Original post by kayong79

after an Apple pro which laptop is good for designers ?

I would advise against macs as solidworks will not work on this - having said that there are work arounds if you already have a mac or desperately want one - you'll need to use boot camp to install windows. I'd also recommend that you get a pc/mac with at least 8gb of ram.

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Reply 13

kayong79

Is there an equipment list ?

Reply 14

littlemissmidget123

Original post by kayong79

Is there an equipment list ?

no theres not

i would advise you to wait until you get to uni before buying anything new - we have stores on campus which is the cheapest place to buy most things anyway.

youll probably get given a toolbox at the start of your workshop module which had a lot of cool stuff in it :smile:

and a lab coat too

Reply 15

kayong79

which other software do you use ?

Reply 16

choua007

Original post by littlemissmidget123

would there be any issues if I were to get a laptop with 6gb RAM instead?

Reply 17

littlemissmidget123

Original post by choua007

would there be any issues if I were to get a laptop with 6gb RAM instead?

probably not, but more would be better - it will just mean that your software will run a tiny bit slower.

Reply 18

littlemissmidget123

Original post by kayong79

which other software do you use ?

the ones you are most likely to use are as follows

solidworks
adobe creative suite/cloud (same thing just different versions) - specifically illustrator, indesign and photoshop, plus dreamweaver if you are a BA student
microsoft office - word, excel, powerpoint (not used a great deal, but if you are BSc you will need excel, and word is always useful to spell check)

the ones below are optional, but most students use them at some point

keyshot
rhino 3D
other CAD software
other rendering software

Reply 19

kayong79

Did you go on any trips ?