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Design news articles

Viewing 31 to 45 of 65 articles

• Eco bulbs pass the test
  NZ Herald, 3 August
  A recent survey by the Electricity Commission showed that more than two thirds of the people tested could not distinguish between eco-friendly bulbs and traditional light bulbs.
  Discussion starters:
  • Prototype testing
  • Energy efficiency
• Photovoltaic solar power gaining momentum with utilities
  NZTE export intelligence news item, 16 August
  A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service ( eg power, water, transportation) and which is often also providing a service using that infrastructure. Results from a recent international survey found that utilities viewed Photovoltaic (PV) as one of the leading technologies for near-term renewable energy. Respondents to the survey also indicated that they viewed onshore wind and biomass as the other key near-term renewable energy sources.
  Discussion starters:
  • Renewable energy technology: improving cost competitiveness
• Paper boys
  New Zealand Herald, 25 August
  If your job seems a bit humdrum, what should you do? If you're anything like these two Auckland creatives, you self-publish something that combines your passions for art and science. Rebecca Barry talks to the creators of Auckland's coolest art journal, Pie Paper.
• Christchurch earthquake videos
  New Zealand Herald online video, 9 September
  Steven Joyce checks out damaged ports.
  Discussion starters:
  • Performance properties of materials
  • Structural design and engineering
  • Utilities infrastructures
  • Regulatory requirements
• Christchurch earthquake videos
  TVNZ news video, 9 September
  Raw aerial vision showing flooded and cracked Canterbury farmland.
  Discussion starters:
  • Performance properties of materials
  • Structural design and engineering
  • Utilities infrastructures
  • Regulatory requirements
• Global designs
  New Zealand Herald, 9 September
  Meet Margo Acland, the quietly driven force behind one of New Zealand's most successful design brands.
  Margot Acland, director and founder of Citta Design, is a woman who has the element of surprise tucked into her fastidiously formed bag of tricks. Few will realise that the business she started in 1989 has grown, almost stealthily, under her guidance, to employ a team of 100 and has its sights set on becoming a significant global player in the arena of homeware design. Acland makes no song and dance about it.
• History in the making
  New Zealand Herald, 10 September
  Looking back at interior design helps inform today's choices, says visiting lecturer Stephen Taylor.
  I am sitting in Cavit & Co.'s Parnell showroom, surrounded by elegant furnishings, looking at a new chair.
  Visiting British interior design historian Stephen Taylor is looking at the chair too.
• Clean green machine
  Manawatu Standard, 13 September
  A Massey University mechatronics student's inexpensive, simple and environmentally friendly invention could go global, helping to resolve the ongoing issue of broken glass on roads.
  Discussion starters:
  • Construction and mechanical technologies: understanding machines
  • Technological modeling: Prototype testing
• Skate boarding's latest thrill ride
  Close Up video, 14 September
  A new Auckland skatepark is taking shape with a likely price tag of close to $1 million.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology: Socio technological environments
  • Technological modelling: stakeholder feedback using social networking media
• Air NZ crash - what went wrong?
  TVNZ video, 17 September
  A discussion with former Airbus captain Edward Hunkin following the release of the report over the crash of an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 in France.
  Discussion starters:
  • Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: system malfunction
  • Technological systems: redundancy and reliability within system design
• Doing things big
  Stuff.co.nz, 20 September
  The home made trebuchet, which took a Taranaki family two months to build, has a 13m throwing arm atop a tree trunk frame, complete with wooden wheels. A two-tonne concrete block is used as a counterweight and the weapon can hurl a 20kg object about 100m.
  Discussion starters:
  • Construction and mechanical technologies: ancient machines
  • Technological products: material properties and their performance capability
• Planning a sustainable city in the desert
  New York Times online, 25 September
  Promoters of Masdar, a city under construction near Abu Dhabi, say that it will be the world's first carbon-neutral city. It will be home to a research institute focused on renewable energy and sustainability, and eventually, if all goes as planned, to various clean-technology companies, and to a projected 45,000 residents and another 45,000 commuters.Discussion starters
  Discussion starters:
  • Environmental design: new city planning; computer-aided modellin
  • Design for sustainability: new energy technology; automated transportation networks
• Building in a brighter shade of 'green'
  TVNZ News, 25 September
  Members of an American family are building an energy-efficient home to the passive-house standard, which relies on insulation, sunlight and an airtight exterior.
  Discussion starters:
  • Energy efficient housing design – the passive-building standard; use of modeling software.
• Surgical strategy wins overseas buyers
  NY Times, 27 September
  A Christchurch company that designs and makes instruments used by orthopaedic surgeons, and exports more than 95 per cent of its products, cites the freedom to be creative in design as one of the reasons for its success.
  Discussion starters:
  • Product development: interpreting market needs; user-centric design; flexible manufacturing; regulatory compliance.
• Annual 'Inventor Next Door Expo' open for viewing
  TVNZ Close Up video, 28 September
  From duck-hunting caps with solar-powered lights to a machine that makes sushi in one simple step, the work of more than 30 Kiwi inventors will be on display at Porirua's Pataka Museum.
  Discussion starters:
  • Nature of Technology: the process of invention.