Our latest newsletter and press articles

May 2019

Lab’s contribution to waste materials initiative

Engineering and Product Design students have been collaborating this semester to transform plastic milk bottles into useful products, creating a circular economy within AUT. Kynan Robinson, a 3^rd year Product Design student, approached the lab to ascertain whether his extruded fibres made from plastic milk bottle tops, could be converted into a felted material to create acoustic space dividers. ‘The divider is made almost entirely from recycled HDPE sourced here at AUT’s city campus’, says Kynan. ‘The product is created with the intention of it being used at AUT, in personal study areas all over campus, but the library in particular’. Other students’ projects made from the same waste material included reusable coffee cups, modular wall tiles and office furniture.

^{Kynan’s felted acoustic desk divider made from 97% recycled plastic bottle tops}

School of Art and Design, Industrial Design Curriculum Leader and Lecturer, Anke Nienhuis says, ‘We want our students to be aware of the problems we are facing today and that they can and must play a role in making positive change. We involve our students in real world projects, collaborating with other departments and industry, where they learn by doing. This creates an exciting learning environment and often yields high quality outcomes such as these.’

Presentation on 3D simulation and concept development

The Textile and Design Lab will be hosting a one-hour presentation on 3D simulation and concept development using the Shima Seiki Apex Design System. AUT Master of Design (Textiles) graduate, Alysha Gover, will deliver the presentation following her recent visit to Shima’s training centre in Japan, where she learned about the latest additions to this software. Her presentation will cover a broad range of product areas including footwear, interior design and furnishings, commercial spaces, apparel, visual art and knitwear.

Date: Friday 21 June 12.30 – 1.30 pm
Venue: WG 126 Lecture Theatre, WG Building, Mayoral Drive, Auckland CBD

Everyone welcome
Admission is free of charge – please email to register

July launch for Print Design Bureau

The Textile and Design Lab is launching its pilot Print Design Bureau in July and is inviting AUT students, both past and present, to submit their textile print designs to the lab, which will in turn be offered for sale via the TDL website. The bureau will create opportunities for our students and former graduates to showcase some of their amazing work and capitalise on the designs that they created during the course of their studies.

Interested students and recent graduates should email tdl@aut.ac.nz to find out how to participate in this initiative.
The deadline for initial design submissions is 30 June.

July and September short courses and workshops

Dates have been announced for our next round of short courses and workshops, which will be held in July and September. Our E-Textile workshops have been redeveloped into a modular format and will consist of half-day introductory level and 1-day intermediate level workshops.

Read more and register here