Foreword
Design Factory, opened in October 2008, is one of the projects of Aalto University. Design Factory is the symbiosis of the state-of-the-art conceptual thinking and cross-disciplinary hands-on doing. It leads a way towards a paradigm shift in education and business by providing a constantly developing collaboration environment for students, researchers and business practitioners.
The most important objectives of Aalto University are to develop and cultivate the passion-based, student centric learning culture, as well as the quality of research and education. The three ‘factories’, spearhead projects of Aalto University – Media, Service and Design factories – are serving as experimental platforms, showrooms and sources of inspiration for all the parties involved.Design Factory is in essence a place where students, teachers, researchers and industry partners can interact under the same roof. The place has its architecture and certain enabling and supporting technologies, but perhaps even more important are the soft issues – philosophy, attitudes, our ways of working. Briefly put, as several visitors have formulated it: “I can see a lot of energy in this place!”
Design Factory is continuously looking for new partnerships and co-operation with all Aalto teachers, courses, students and other parties. Just contact us for further discussions or co-design. Better outcomes in learning and research are the only things that matter, and Design Factory is dedicated to help you in that.
In the name of passion, fun, learning and hard work – come and see if we can do something together!
Kalevi “Eetu” Ekman
Factory Director
Mission
- Design Factory develops creative ways of working, spatial solutions, and enhanced interdisciplinary interaction to support world-class product design in educational, research and practical application contexts.
- Design Factory aims to develop a passion-based student-centric learning culture for the Aalto University.
- It hosts visitors from all parties, who are interested in practical applications of problem-based learning philosophy and hands-on activities that support theoretical studies.
All work at Design Factory is done according to an open innovation policy. All Factory users are committed to the principle of continuous development, as well as
- to have fun
- to learn
- to work hard!
Students
If you are a student, the Factory provides a holistic learning experience characterized by real life challenges, fun, a relaxed but enthusiastic atmosphere, genuine teamwork, and daily international collaboration. It is up to you to decide how far you are willing to go, but the Factory offers a lifetime opportunity to develop your individual uniqueness, as well as find your new best friends, future colleagues, and employers.
Business
If you are a business practitioner, the Factory is an innovative environment for finding, incubating, and realizing new ideas together with leading scholars, top future talent, and a mixture of other companies. Since you work hand in hand with a great variety of people, the Factory is also the place to be for recruiting purposes.
Research
Design Factory offers unique opportunities to form and participate in open-ended research initiatives challenging the industry status quo. This is due to the Factory’s close relationship with industry partners, and its role as an enabler of inter- and cross-disciplinary research agenda. For traditional within-discipline research efforts, the Factory is an interesting environment to meet people, collect empirical data, and study different methods and phenomena related to innovation, design, business and education.
