Abstract:

A few years back, our Engineering Graphics and Industrial Design Department introduced aesthetics in the academic curricula, in an attempt to offer a broader understanding of design, more sophisticated tools and better versatility in performance, for the future engineers.

The new special course of aesthetics introduced in the 3rd year of study to our students offered us the possibility to assess, in a few various ways, the opportunity of such an endeavor. Everything that is new, every change, comes with specific data, with a pile of good outcomes and some dysfunctions that need to be controlled.

A key problem for us was to obtain feedback from the students concerning the following: opportunity of aesthetic studies for future engineers, their understanding of the great impact of aesthetics in designing any kind of machinery parts or industrial tools and other products, the importance of combining aesthetics with functionality, and, on a larger scale, the need to have a rich cultural foundation besides being a great specialist.

Recently we conducted a study on a number of 50 students who graduated the aesthetics course based on observation, on a test designed by us, containing 12 key questions, and a brainstorming session following a project submitted to them (the brainstorming session aimed to reveal their ability to spot the best option that combined aesthetics with functionality). The target of our study was on one hand to assess the visible results of the course and, on the other hand, to make them understand how complex is the response of the recipient of their work, to make them walk in the shoes of the client and not of the maker.

The results were partly spectacular, in the sense that the student’s enthusiasm was great, but it leaves also a lot of room for further investigations and improvements in our way of conveying knowledge to the students, in order to make them better equipped with a set of solid key skills needed in their future profession.

Keywords:

Functionality and beauty, cultural foundation, change, brainstorming, interdisciplinary approach.