Industrial design technicians are capable of working in different types of processing and manufacturing companies, mainly those specialized in furniture, machinery and equipment, pulp and paper, lighting, telecommunications and plastic products. They can also work for design, architectural or engineering firms, be self-employed or work as freelancers.
These technicians are involved in the industrial design process of product development. They work to improve or modify existing products and, on occasion, design new products. The responsibilities they are entrusted with vary depending on the type and size of company they work for. Generally speaking, the duties performed by technicians are an integral part of other corporate activities; they work as part of multidisciplinary teams with various specialists, most notably industrial designers or project managers.
Industrial design technicians usually work using the following step-by-step problem-solving approach: analyze and understand the initial data, plan out work to be done, obtain required information, define a referential framework and find solutions, evaluate these solutions and present them.
Upon completion of the program, graduates will have the skills and knowledge required to: analyze a job function, analyze an industrially manufactured product, obtain information required for developing a product, establish design criteria, undertake the conceptual development of a product, use visualization tools, produce technical drawings and product models, undertake technical development of a product, use industrial manufacturing technologies, advise clients on the formal and plastic aspects of a product, study the relationship between the user and the product from an ergonomic standpoint, improve product use, analyze the structure of an object, improve the manner in which a product works, provide professional services, ensure the technical feasibility of a project, advise clients on the economic aspect of a product, produce the technical documents required for production start-up, and, lastly, perform technical and functional validation.