Students learn by living the history and culture of a place rather than being lectured to. Field trips will expose students to a variety of design, ranging from Renault's auto design facility to the Parisian underground and sewer system. Students also will visit the studio of furniture designer, Jean-Michel Wilmotte in preparation for their class project, a chair design. After their return, students will conduct ergonomics testing and make prototypes of their designs. COA's Architecture Program has conducted its own study abroad program since 1975, but this marks a first for Industrial Design.
Industrial design concerns itself with a different area of inquiry.
The more comfort designers have with other cultures, the easier it will be for them to successfully navigate their professional practice on foreign soils. Globalism aside, the study abroad course should have additional impact on students. The trip will open students' minds to other ways of thinking and doing. Everything will be challenged, from the way the city is laid out to the role of the car and the role of technology. No stranger to globe-trotting, Elliott has visited five of the seven continents, motorcycling through the U.S., cycling through Italy, rafting in Nepal, sailing in Malaysia, bushwhacking in Australia and mountaineering in Japan.