About DFK
People and Organization
Design Factory Korea (DFK) is an educational part housed at Yonsei University’s International Campus in Incheon, South Korea. It is a part of the Design Factory Global Network (DFGN) – an innovative and interdisciplinary network creating collaboration between similar-minded people, projects and platforms. DFGN holds regular meetings to share their experiences, and to discuss and research educational methods in engineering, business and design for the new era. The Design Factory concept originates from Aalto University in Finland and the idea has spread to 5 countries (Finland, Australia, Switzerland, Chile and China) and DFK joins the network as the 6th member.
Underwood International College (UIC) within Yonsei University is a highly selective liberal arts program which implemented the residential college system for the first time in Asia in the international campus in Songdo. UIC offers an all-English curriculum and international faculty, all distinguished in their respective fields. UIC attracts the brightest and the best of students around the world.
FINLAND S.KOREA
SWITZERLAND CHINA
CHILE
AUSTRALIA
One of the most distinguishing features of the Design Factory (DF) is its innovative educational philosophy. It actively provides solutions to the practical problems that companies and societies face today through collaboration and exchange of ideas among students from diverse backgrounds. To provide the optimal educational environment, DF is sustained by both material and immaterial support: student-initiated projects, corporate-given challenges and sponsorships, tools for prototyping, collaborative projects with other DF teams, and guidance from administrative staff and faculty advisors. The DFK team consists of Yonsei University students, faculty and staffs, corporations and Yonsei's extensive global network. With the facilities and resources available at Yonsei International Campus and the innovative curriculum offered at Underwood International College, DFK is expected to continuously produce creative ideas, expand to all colleges in Yonsei University, and ultimately provide a new educational model for the future.
In the first phase, DFK is anchored by Techno-Art Division (TAD), an interdisciplinary design, technology, and management undergraduate program offered at UIC. TAD consists of three majors: Information & Interaction Design (IID), Creative Technology Management (CTM) and Culture & Design Management (CDM). IID focuses on the field of interaction design and innovative technology; CTM, on IT management, innovation and entrepreneurship in the ICT sector; CDM, on product design and marketing. Design Factory brings together students with an international interdisciplinary mind and creative thinking. Students from various fields and majors are equipped with fundamental knowledge on design, technology or expertise on management. They incorporate ideas from other academic fields and exchange these ideas with corporate, commercial and industrial sectors to design new business models and services perceived in both micro- and macroscopic visions.
Information & Interaction Design (IID)
Culture & Design Management (CDM)
Design
Humanities Technology
Management
Creative Technology Management (CTM)
What is Product Development Project? Product Development Project (PDP) is a course primarily aimed at students of engineering, industrial design and business who are interested in product development of investment or consumer goods. The PDP course was initially hosted by Design Factory, an experimental co-creation platform of Aalto University. PDP combines theory and practice and has become the standard methodology for hands-on educational experiences at Design Factories all around the world. (Source: pdp.fi) At DFK, seniors from the three TAD majors take the "Techno-Art Capstone Project" course where they conceive, develop and generate innovative services and products for user needs. To create a product or a service that satisfies the values of innovative business model, product & service prototype design, manufacturability, and marketability, students go through four stages in product & service development: observation, conceptualization, prototyping and evaluation. In order to support students from different majors: (1) professors hold workshops about theories and skills needed at all stages of product and service development process (2) companies with real-life challenges provide a topic and resources for the student team (3) coaches from respective industries offer practical advice and guidance about the market and user needs (4) Design Factory staffs worldwide provide technical and theoretical knowledge, hard skills for product realization, and the soft skills needed for completing the process.
Industry Collaboration What kind of professionals are need in your business?
Why work with DF? Kalevi Ekman / Director, Aalto Design Factory, Finland
learning = (hard skills) x (soft skills)² "At Design Factory, students come first. The focus is learning. There are many things that must be learned not only in theory but in practice as well. Thinking by doing helps clarifying difficult design challenges and concept development.
Can they be educated through the traditional means of teaching, or is a learning revolution required?
The hard skills are important. The soft skills - team working, project working, interdisciplinary working, leadership and management, enthusiasm and passion, curiosity and "can do" mindset - are even more important."
JĂźrgen Bauer / Manager, Audi Tongji Joint Lab, Shanghai "It is a pleasure working with the Design Factory. For Audi, it proves to be of
At the early stage of establishment, DFK is currently searching for concrete cooperative relations with companies and related industry as well as expanding our network to create more opportunities for students and industry. We look for challenging learning projects that require a combination of adequate coaching and resources. Collaborative projects will bring the university closer to the industry, and create direct value for society.
great value to collaborate with their interdisciplinary, intercultural teams, which are well trained in tools and methods by the great staffs on site. We learn a lot about user needs, and sometimes see some really fresh new ideas.�
Matti Heimonen / Ambassador, Embassy of Finland in South Korea "I am privileged. Soon after the birth of Aalto University, by a merger of three leading Finnish universities, an important decision was made. Aalto University established a Design Factory in Shanghai together with Tongji University. Since I was representing Finland in Shanghai, I followed closely the development. I found that Design Factory was really a radical and new experiment which drives the university's mission towards multidisciplinary learning. Since then, I have been a warm supporter of the Design Factory concept. And I have participated in so many impressive and pleasant occasions there. You can be assured that as Finnish Ambassador in Seoul, I am now more than happy to witness the opening of Design Factory Korea!" photo: Embassy of Finland
Got interested? Join us explore and tackle any problem, big and small, with the next generation of product & service who love new challenges. We welcome companies or institutions searching for innovative solutions to problems and challenges they are facing in their business. You can join us as an industrial coach by giving us practical problems or providing financial support to realize the solutions. Design Factory Korea will be open from April 22nd, 2015. Please feel free to contact us to discuss about future opportunities for collaboration with talented young minds.
West Gate
Veritas Hall A
Songdo Dormitory
Veritas Hall B 206
Underwood Memorial Library
Main Gate
East Gate
Homepage: dfk.yonsei.ac.kr Email: designfactory@yonsei.ac.kr Tel: (82) 32-749-3008~3009 Address: Underwood International College, Yonsei University, 85 Songdogwahak-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Korea, 406-840
Email: designfactory@yonsei.ac.kr Tel: (82) 32-749-3008~3009 Address: Underwood International College, Yonsei University, 85 Songdogwahak-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, Korea, 406-840