Creating an innovative design for your garden: The Siemens Boot Camp at UoB - by Sarah Page

In late January, University of Birmingham students took part in an enterprising Boot Camp with Siemens and had the task of designing garden furniture using Siemens' Solid Edge software. Physiotherapy undergraduate Sarah Page was part of the winning team helping to create a garden product called 'The Capsule'.

Sarah:  It was a fantastic opportunity for three mechanical engineering students, a nuclear science student and a physiotherapy student to learn, collaborate and successfully launch a market-viable product. The Capsule was our team’s innovative design of garden furniture that won us the competition in the 4-day Siemens Solid Edge Bootcamp.

Our idea consisted of two recycled-plastic, low chairs and a coffee table with a compact parasol that could be neatly pieced together to form a sleek high table. It is aesthetic, durable, social and compact — meeting the desired features we identified in our market research of consumer and housing market trends. Using Solid Edge, a synchronous computer-aided manufacturing software, we were able to create, refine, animate and structurally test our design in such a short space of time. 

From the product information easily accessible in Solid Edge, we were able to calculate manufacturing costs to formulate a viable business model and eventually, a business growth plan. We developed a strong, inexpensive marketing strategy for a small start-up after listening to a guest expert in marketing deliver her Masterclass. Our strategy involved using augmented reality and public, strategically-located launch events for people to interact with the furniture set, to increase our social media presence. Finally, with support from the B-Enterprise team for presentation skills, we created a standout 8-minute video as a pitch for the judges at Siemens.

The biggest challenge we faced? Working against the clock to learn and apply completely unfamiliar concepts. It really tested our critical thinking and communication not to mention, through language barriers. 

As the week progressed, we got better at giving clear, constructive feedback to each other and delegating, allowing us to work through the tasks we set ourselves faster. 

We also worked with another team to learn how to use Solid Edge faster than if we worked individually.

My main takeaway from this is that I gained invaluable team working experience and industry connections.

The university runs enterprise Boot Camps and Future of Work sessions with forward thinking employers. Find the latest Boot Camp events online.

With thank to Sarah Page
Arranged by Jodie Bird