Design & Make the Future 2014

Design & Make the Future 2014 was run by Teach Design and took place on Saturday 10th May at the National STEM Centre in York. The day was packed with a combination of keynotes, workshops, networking and exhibitions. There were 16 workshops in total that took place over the course of the day; each delegate could attend 4 sessions.

To kick off the day, Mark Shayler, the CEO of Green Ape, delivered a keynote speech: ‘Design is a Super Power’. Delegates were then given eight-morning workshops to choose from, of which they could attend two. Over lunch, there was the opportunity to network and look around the exhibition area where a number of companies were showing off their products/services. At the Kitronik stand, a range of electronic project kits and E-Textiles products were on display, providing inspiration for teachers. The offer of having a free sample posted out to schools also proved to be a big hit with the teachers.

Kitronik's exhibition stand at Design & Make the Future 2014

In the afternoon the delegates chose to attend two more workshops from another batch of eight (different to the selection of workshops on offer in the morning).

Morning Workshops:

• E-Textiles
• iPads in D&T
• Global design & making
• 3D printing
• Science and food technology
• Serious engineering
• ISO sketch
• Designing the circular economy

Afternoon Workshops:

• Designing sustainable food systems
• MaKey MaKey
• Engaging electronics
• Vex robotics
• Design toolkit
• Design the future with Autodesk
• Health & safety made easy
• Designing, sketching & rendering

Engaging Electronics Presentation

Kitronik director, Geoff Hampson, gave two presentations on delivering engaging electronics lessons. The session covered free-to-use resources, a range of project ideas, as well as taking a brief look at the use of microcontrollers and E-Textiles. To view a copy of Geoff’s ‘Engaging electronics’ presentation, click here.

E-Textiles Workshop

Julie Boyd's delivering a Teach Design E-Textiles workshop

 

Julie's E-Textiles projects

The E-Textiles workshop was run by Julie Boyd, an E-Textiles consultant who writes our E-Textiles tutorials. After an explanation of what E-Textiles was all about, the teachers were able to make a simple circuit: an Electro-Fashion Switched Coin Cell Holder connected to a Sewable PCB LED using conductive thread. Plenty of examples of more advanced work were on display, giving teachers the opportunity to get inspiration for what they could do in the classroom. *E-Textiles Workshop photographs were taken by Paul Boyd. The day was wrapped up with a keynote speech by Keith Warren (from the Big Picture) on ‘Changing the Future’.

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