With a degree of enterprise

It is the word "enterprise" at the end of his degree which particularly interests Nick Sleeman, who today becomes the first master of product design enterprise graduate from Otago Polytechnic.

The product design part of his studies involved learning how to turn a concept into a functional product which could be manufactured; the enterprise part dealt with the practicalities of ensuring those products could actually find a market.

"We were not just looking at the aesthetics of products but at their market potential. My case studies had to be business-based."

His studies were "exciting stuff", Mr Sleeman said.

"Getting a product to market is really the interesting part . . . It it very seldom people get those 'eureka moments' and invent a product which is an instant success. Usually, products reach the market place because of pragmatic innovation."

His course helped him to "minimise mistakes and maximise success", Mr Sleeman said.

"I think of it as learning to go into the dragon's den without looking like a wally."

(Dragon's Den is a reality television programme filmed in several countries, including New Zealand, where inventors try and convince businesspeople to invest in their ideas.)

Among the products Mr Sleeman developed during his studies were an educational package to help factory workers learn about the operation and maintenance of industrial machinery, and a plastic bubble-shaped recreational trailer, which he described as a revamped caravan, designed to appeal to younger campers.

While it was possible the educational package idea might be taken further, there were no plans as yet to produce the trailer commercially, he said.

Mr Sleeman said his polytechnic course also taught him another useful aspect of getting a product to market - collaboration.

"Generally, new products involve some sort of new technology and as I haven't got a [technical] background, I have to work with others who do."

Mr Sleeman (25) was educated at James Hargest High School in Invercargill and moved to Dunedin to study for a bachelor of product design degree at Otago Polytechnic.

Once he had completed that he won a Trade and Enterprise employment scholarship which paid half his salary for a year, provided he was employed as a designer for a New Zealand manufacturer.

He was taken on by heating company Yunca, and is now one of three industrial designers at its Dunedin-based gas fire factory.

At present, the trio is designing a new-style fire for the Australian market which should be in production later next year.

Mr Sleeman completed his two-year masters course while holding down his full-time job and teaching 3D computer modelling part-time to other polytechnic design students - a hectic schedule which he said did not leave much room for leisure.

However, he has been heavily involved in Dunedin's land and cliff search and rescue teams and said his career goal was to design some sort of tracking device which would assist in finding lost people more quickly.