On May 24th in Wuxi inaugurated was Wuxi Intl’ Design Expo High-end Forum and Intl’ “Redesign Design Education” Conference, which were hosted by China Industrial Design Association (CIDA) and Wuxi municipal government, and organized by the School of Design in JU and the Industrial Design Association in Wuxi.

The conference was attended by over 400 participants from Case Western Reserve University, University of Cincinnati, LPK, BMW, Motorola, Deadalus, ECCO Design, Morningstar, Asian Designer Union, Politecnico di Milano, Tsinghua University, Tongji Univeristy, Hunan University, Changhong, LKK and other noted universities and companies.

In the opening, Cao Jiazhong, Deputy Mayor of Wuxi, addressed the conference, following which a welcome speech was made by Xu Yan, Vice President of JU and a speech delivered by Prof. Zhang Fuchang from School of Design. Liu Ning, Deputy Executive President commended for the successful forum and conference, pointing out that the industry and educational community of design should take advantage of the opportunities in the era of innovation and transformation of industries, cultivating new-type designers who are eligible and adaptable to make greater contributions to the economy and community. Two lectures were respectively made afterwards by Xin Xiangyang, Dean of the School of Design and Professor Craig Vogel from University of Cincinnati, Ex-president of US Industry Design Association.

The meeting in Wuxi is the second one of the conferences. Grounded on the theme of “Contexts, Approaches and Value” in the first one, it switched its focus to the industry and education of design, themed as “New Contexts, New Opportunities and New Approaches”. The meeting assembled the educationists and entrepreneurs at home and abroad to discuss the new research and application fruits on design, examining the contribution made by design on the rising industry and immaterial economy such as community service, manufacturing security , education and finance, which built bridges between design education, enterprises and community requirements. During the three days, the experts presented gave lectures themed on “Industrial Environment and Social Innovation”, “Traditional Industries Upgrading”, “Public Affairs Administration and Organization Innovation”, “Service Design and Social Innovation” and “Transformation of Design”. Also they participated in a few branch meetings themed on “Contribution of Basic Research to Industries”, “Foundation of Design Philosophy and Core Competency” and “New Aesthetics”. Grounding on the facts that the macro industrial structure and program catalog of the Ministry of Education are brought into adjusting, they argued that design education should adapt to the development of disciplines, adjust the training aim and set up a new training plan, which is apt to cultivate the qualified designers, making greater contributions to economy and society of China.

Together with the international conference, JU held other three workshops named “Design Research and Product Development”, “Design Strategy and Inquiry” and “Product as Package”. Led by the renowned experts from University of Cincinnati and Second Road, the training aimed to introduce and teach the classic research achievements and cases to the domestic executives, technologists, product managers, designers and teachers as well.

In addition, the Expo laid out an exhibition section in the School of Design, demonstrating the achievements during these years of industrial design on Art and interdisciplinary combination made by JU students, who studied positively on the renovation of research methods, creative tools and teaching approaches, to fulfill the need of redefinition of design and transformation of industrial structure. In the realm of product system design, interactive design, service design, city transportation and sustainable design of local culture, JU exhibited the research and application achievements obtained on contemporary Sci-Tech, industries and social issues.

It is reported that JU and Wuxi Industrial Design Park, to boost the construction of Innovative Economic Champion City and famous Design City, made “An Frame Agreement on Joint Establishment of ‘Open Innovation Research Institute, Jiangnan University’”. The institute was to be inaugurated in Wuxi Industrial Design Park, then to launch a string of activities such as cooperation of enterprises, employment of international consultants and integration of industry, study and research. It aims to establish in Yangtze Delta a center for innovative design, a base for designer training and an international platform for innovation collaboration.

Acknowledgements should be made to the National Instructive Committee of Industrial Design Education, Wuxi Industrial Design Park, Product Innovation and Culture Research Center, Jiangnan University and Jiang Zhenji Industrial Design Training Center of Jiangnan University. (School of Design)

open ceremony

Deputy Mayor Cao adressing

Vice President Xu making a welcome speech

Prof. Zhang delivering a speech

Liu making a speech

Dean Xin giving a lecture

Craig making a lecture