Mapping the ecosystem of practice-based research in Industrial Design within the Cumulus Association

31k RMB

This project aimed to collecting and scrutinizing relevant data on practice-based research (PBR) projects conducted in recent five years in a pool of Industrial Design academic units of the Cumulus Association, of which XJTLU is as well a member. Thanks to this project the IND department can take the lead of Cumulus “Industrial Design Working Group”. The project aims to map, by geographical location, typology, subject area and research methodology, the academic units, the scholars involved, the external partners, and the outcomes. The mapping allows identifying achievements, gaps and trends, and to build an assesment framework for PBR. The academic units subject to analysis will be selected to equally cover key geographical areas of the Association, three per area. Selection criteria include the presence of an Industrial/ Product Design Department and/or research labs that show evidence of practice-based research outputs. The participation in the project is voluntary, contact establishment and invite will be supported by the Cumulus Secretariat. Collected info was processed and organised in a data-base visualized through an interactive, map on “Kumu” platform. The project has the support of the Cumulus Board.

XJTLU IND has been appointed to lead the Cumulus Working Group "FINDER Future of Industrial Design education and Research".
An interactive map mock-up was developed using the KUMU platform, visualizing relations between research themes, methods, and outcomes.