New Ecodesign Centre Project: PhD Studentship with Orangebox

April 2010

EDC are delighted to announce the start of our first Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS). KESS is a major European Convergence programme led by Bangor University on behalf of the HE sector in Wales (http://www.bangor.ac.uk/kess/). Sharon Prendeville, a 1st Class Honors graduate in Product Design and Technology has been recruited to undertake the studentship. The research will involve an investigation of innovative materials analysis methodologies, technologies and life cycle analysis for sustainable product development in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The main industry partner is the award-winning ecodesign-led furniture manufacturer Orangebox (http://www.orangebox.com/index.asp) with additional support being provided by the National Centre for Product Design & Development Research (PDR) (http://www.pdronline.co.uk/) at UWIC (http://www3.uwic.ac.uk/English/Pages/home2.aspx).

Luke Palmer who is managing the project at the companies side had the following to say “engaging in the KESS partnership with the Ecodesign Centre and the Universities within Wales is an exciting opportunity for us. This focused body of research can only enhance our ability to become a leading edge SME within the global market. The knowledge and expertise we'll gain will translate into commercial benefits due to the competitive advantages achieved as a result of the outputs of this program.”