Bachelor of Industrial Design Students Participate in BRP International Design Competition
By Professor Catherine Chong and Professor Ken Cummings
The Industrial Design program was invited to return and participate in the BRP (Bombardier Recreational Products) International Design Competition!
Headquartered in Quebec, BRP Inc. is a global leader in the world of powersports products, propulsion systems and boats.
Humber Bachelor of Industrial Design was one of six participating design institutions in North America and Europe. Students received on-site constructive feedback from BRP’s design team during the semester, offering a real-life learning environment. The BRP design team shared professional experience, branding and time in facilitating our students’ portfolio development.
This design project was led by Professors Catherine Chong and Ken Cummings, with technical support from graduate, Dylan Torraville, forming a synergy group of year 3 and year 4 students from Product and Transportation Design. This created a cross-disciplinary learning environment, where students were able to learn from each other and share resources.
“My biggest takeaway from this trip to Finland and the opportunity to participate in this international design competition is being offered an internship at BRP! As Industrial Design students we are capable of achieving great success in our careers anywhere in the world. Our education at Humber College in the Bachelor of Industrial Design program provides us with an incredible foundation about design and allows us to use skills learned in school to advance our learning even further on our own.”
Carlie Besser
Third Year Student, Bachelor of Industrial Design Recipient of BRP Internship
“The BRP project has been one of the most important parts of my career development on a personal and professional level. The amount of work we put in during the 14 weeks of development was crazy but it was well worth it. It was important to acquire these skills to accomplish a difficult task while doing my thesis, but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything because the amount of learning I gained was worth so much more.”
Ricky Saluja Fourth Year Student, Bachelor of Industrial Design
The project focused on developing innovative solutions in alternative electric powered vehicles to meet high environmental goals and the lifestyle of urban and suburban consumers. BRP’s project brief called for “An alternative personal transportation device, capable of accommodating an occasional passenger and offering storage space for daily needs. The product has to facilitate access to and from cities, in a safe and sustainable manner, endorsed by the World Design Organization, as participants are challenged to consider and incorporate some of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in their concepts.”
The design goal was a sustainable mobility solution to reduce the environmental footprint in year 2035. Students had the opportunity to develop a forward-thinking design concept that applies and assimilates challenging winter conditions north of 45th/50th parallel and addresses a mobility problem in these harsh winter climates. Students’ designs embraced the sustainable mobility solution’s strategy by using sustainable materials and green manufacturing. They also reflected advances such as: new trends and ways of moving people, health/safety benefits of a heated cabin and snowtravel capability, improved functionality and better user-experience through human-centred design.
Two Humber students, Ricky Saluja and Carlie Besser, were finalists selected to present their designs to a panel of judges, at the Arctic Design Week held in Rovaniemi, Finland, in March 2023!
Chaperoned by Professor Catherine Chong and hosted by Denys Lapointe and his team, the weeklong forum, which was celebrating its 15th anniversary under the theme Better Future with Arctic Smartness. Arctic Design Week promotes northern design expertise and business while inspiring designers, students, scientists and artists from around the globe.
This has been an incredibly rewarding journey in forging a positive working relationship with BRP. The students had an amazing experience connecting with the international design community. BRP has been a great host in organizing an unforgettable Lynx ride allowing the participants to experience riding through the frozen river and snow forest and crossing the Arctic Circle.
The outcome through this design journey and attending the event in Rovaniemi, Finland, resulted in BRP offering an internship to Carlie Besser. She will continue her learning in Valcourt, Quebec and will acquire many new skills and make lots of career-enhancing contacts. In addition, BRP in Sophia Antipolis in the South of France, has reached out to Ricky Saluja for further discussions about his portfolio and possibility of employment.
This concluded a successful design journey through an exclusive design project, attending the Arctic Design Week, and creating an awe-inspiring learning experience.
