Product Design Engineering
Right from the start, our product design engineering degree is all about developing your creativity and problem-solving skills. Even the introduction is a team-based design-and-build challenge –…
Stephen Spurrier
Senior Lecturer
My profile
Biography
I am a passionate individual who is always trying to make things better. This suited to my teaching area of design that nothing is set in stone and developments can always be made to any situation. I like to think that every problem has a viable solution and that all you need are a few active ingredients with a method and the means to execute that method.
Words of wisdom
I am a firm believer in the concept of ‘Every problem has a solution’. I think that sometimes people get too concerned with the problem and focus on the negative side of the presence of the problem as opposed to being proactive in solving it. With this concept, they can manage a problem if they know that it can be solved.
My subject area Design and Engineering often help us to solve problems. We would not have ventured into space or travelled the seas, flown airplanes across continents and enhanced our standards of living, without it.
Now Product Design has become an integral part of society where we introduce new products every day and because of design, we have a better consideration of the end user. Hence the phrase
‘We are what we make’
Academic and professional qualifications
PGCE in Teaching & Learning
MSc (Hons) Product Design & Management
BSc (Hons) Computer Aided Design
AGNVQ Engineering
NVQ 3 – Product Manufacture
Other academic service (administration and management)
- Health & Safety Co-ordinator (Mechanical division)
- Personal Tutor, BSc Product Design & Technology/Design Engineering
- Unit management - populating Moodle, generating performance matrices, unit evaluation and supporting paperwork
- Project Supervisor
- Placements Supervisor
- Industrial project development
Membership of professional associations
Higher Education Academy Fellow
Interests and expertise
I am a family man who likes to spend time in the outdoors and walking with my family and friends. I like to travel and see the world to embrace other cultures as I feel that this gives you a better all round and grounded personality. I like to watch films and find myself encapsulated in a film from start to finish often arriving at the conclusion before the film ends. In my youth I studied Film Studies part time at A level because of my interest in the subject
I like following sport and like to stay active by jogging long distances. I have a particular interest in football and still play occasionally, I enjoy the physical side of the game but I also like to analyse football as a spectator and discuss tactics and performance of the teams I follow. My team is Liverpool FC and having been a fan from a very young age and have spent time watching them play at Anfield and beyond. I also find the time occasionally to watch my hometown team Crewe Alexandra.
Projects
My research focus is currently investigating the role of bio-inspiration in the field of design and the effects that it has on the end user. To help me gain an understanding of how people relate to this concept, I have developed a specific project for my PhD in the area of climbing and in particular the climbing shoe. I have started this process by investigating the role of climbing animals and how their foot morphology aids this process. The aspiration for this research project is to propose a design methodology that could be used within the climbing shoe market to enhance consumer comfort.
My future as a Designer and educator sees my research, practice and teaching start to inform one another. I aim to push the boundaries of bio-inspiration in products and investigate how and why the consumer immerses themselves in the concept of nature and if our products can evolve with this in mind. This is creating an exciting opportunity for designers to be able to integrate this into their products and improve them through this process.
Teaching
Why do I teach?
I teach because it is something that I am extremely passionate about and I believe that we can influence the next generation with our ideas and help them to develop these ideas and question them. In my case, it is design where I have been privileged to gain sufficient industrial experience of this area and it is my intent to use this experience to inform the next generation of designers.
I have managed to gain experience of teaching at levels 2,3,4,5,6 & 7 in engineering and design based disciplines and as such I have been able to effectively modify my approach depending on the level of student and this experience I feel makes me a strong advocate for bring the best out of people irrespective of their personal circumstances.
Given my teaching experience, I try to employ best practice in the delivery of new ideas to those who are willing to listen. If I make one design student more capable and confident in what they are doing then I feel I have achieved something.
How I’ll teach you
I will apply the principles of teaching and learning to a design environment. Initially posing a question about a given topic. We will explore various learning methods to work our way through the problem and arrive at a conclusion. These include lecture-based questions, tutorial questions that require further investigation, interactive quizzes and practical based problems to see if you have understood the topic area.
I will also invite you to demonstrate your understanding of the topics through presentations, critiques and assessments of various types.
I will then use varying methods to extract the information from you and with each topic there will be a plenary where you can feedback on the subject and give your opinion.
I will always expect the very best from every student and in turn will give my very best.
Subject areas
Product Design & Design Engineering
Digital Design and Manufacturing
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Mechanical Engineering
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Research outputs
I have published one paper on my research area and attend one international conference as well as three national conferences in the field of Sports Engineering.
My paper titled ‘Investigating Foot Morphology in Rock Climbing Mammals:
Inspiration for Biomimetic Climbing Shoes’.
Career history
June 2000
Completed my Modern Apprenticeship at Bentley Motor Cars
July 2003
Graduated with honours on my Computer Aided Design BSc Degree
October 2005
Graduated with honours on my Product Design and Management MSc Degree
September 2011
Completed my PGCE in Teaching and Learning