Polytech centre drives product development

If Campbell Booth has his way, Dunedin will soon forge a reputation as a leading centre of innovation and design.

And he expects the Polytechnic Product Development Centre he manages will play a major role in that.

The centre provides the specialised equipment and the trained staff to enable people to refine the design of new products and take them to the prototype stage.

Mr Booth, who was appointed about 18 months ago, said while it had been a "challenging" first full year for the centre, he was confident everything was in place for big things this year.

"We've been through the establishment phase to the staff training phase and final commissioning.

We have a steady flow of work . . . and we're [already] building a portfolio of runs on the board.

"We are expecting major growth.

"I'm very confident about that.

"The response to what we have to offer has been overwhelming from a community which is keen to get on and do things."

Last year had been more difficult than expected, as the recession struck about the time the centre was accepting its first clients.

The downturn resulted in businesses concentrating on their day-to-day operations rather than the development of new products.

The Government's decision to reduce the tax credit available to New Zealand companies carrying out research and development was also "an unexpected blow", Mr Booth said.

"This has been a challenging period.

"But certainly, there is an opportunity and as a good a reason as any now for companies to come up with new products and new solutions to solve these challenges."

Mr Booth said the centre, with its combination of the latest technology and staff passionate about turning ideas into realities, was "a gift to the region".

 

The equipment allowed people to create computer designs and actual products and components more quickly and more cheaply than was possible using traditional methods, he said.

That technology had applications in many fields including design, fashion, architecture, medical, dental, engineering and art.

The 3D printer, for example, enabled resin objects to be produced in hours, rather than days.

"Designers can use the objects to test the function and form of an idea before committing to mass-producing it as a real product or component."

Using the 3D laser scanner, the only one in Otago, involved passing a handpiece across a physical object in a motion similar to spray painting to produce an instant 3D digital image.

For a recent project, staff scanned anatomical models from the Dunedin Medical School, to create screen images that polytechnic health sciences students can use as a learning resource.

While most of the products being developed in the centre were still confidential, Mr Booth said some students' work was already available on the market, including a "flat-pack" fruit bowl, a lampshade and a garden lantern.

Staff had also assisted former Fisher & Paykel engineers Bill Currie and Wayne O'Hara with the design and production of prototypes for their single-blade wind turbines, and helped Dunedin architect Fred Brandenburg produce 3D computer images for the ornate hotel, factory, showroom and garden complex he is creating for a Chinese fashion house.

It was expected several other projects still under wraps would be made public in the first few months of this year, Mr Booth said.

Mr Booth grew up on a farm in Central Otago and attended Roxburgh Area School.

He graduated from Otago Polytechnic with New Zealand Certificate of Engineering in the mid-1990s before working in research and development positions overseas, with a start-up company, and most recently for Fisher & Paykel.

He said he knew he wanted to apply for the Product Development Centre manager's role as soon as he saw the job advertised.

"Pat Maguire, one of the people behind the establishment of the centre, was one of my previous lecturers and I could see he had an inspirational vision for where he saw design going.

"The networking and ease of communicating [among businesses] in the region was certainly a drawcard, as was the support offered to businesses through the Dunedin City Council economic development unit."

Mr Booth said he saw his appointment as a way of giving some of the skills he gained as a student back to the polytechnic and the community.

The work carried out in the centre was "hugely exciting" for himself and his staff.

"Creative talent and our machines turn ideas into physical realities.

"The machines streamline the research and development process and produce very accurate prototypes, but they are only as good as the information they are given to process."

- allison.rudd@odt.co.nz [2]

Product Development Centre

Stand-alone business unit.

• Established using a $2 milliongrant from Tertiary Education Commission's Innovative Development Fund.

• Provides access to specialised high-tech product design and manufacturing equipment for students, companies and private individuals wishing to produce new product prototypes and test them.

• Equipment include 3D printer, vacuum casting equipment for plastics, 3D laser scanner, laser cutter, tube bender, large format router, water-jet cutter, high-speed machining centre, roto-moulding gear, and vacuum thermo-forming machine.

• Employs five staff with lengthy experience in design and engineering fields.