Product Design, Development and Innovation are the cornerstones of the new £6m. facility built on the site of the old Deane Tower.  Opened in 2004, the building hosts a range of complimentary services for business and industry related projects.

The appointment of a dedicated team of designers means that the Product Development Service is able to delivery projects to the timescale required by our clients'.

This service has been set up in such a way that if the designers do not have the required expertise to complete all facets of the project, they can call upon a pool of lead academics from within the university's school who will have the required knowledge and expertise.  Thus allowing the service to be flexible enough to complete any project through the utilisation of an internal team and not involving third parties.

Not only does the service have access to the right personnel to complete projects, it also has access to specialist equipment such as an ABS Rapid Propotyping machine and a Laser Scanner for reverse engineering.  This coupled with the Innovation Factory, enables the university to convert concepts into a working prototype for testing.

The university has also developed links with local manufacturers who can give advice on the most appropriate method to reduce costs and ensure it can be made.