Finland has a long history of vehicle engineering and production, with local brands such as Valmet, Valtra, Rocla, and SISU. Lahti Institute of Design & Fine Art has long been connected with that industry. We can look back to the late 1990s when graduates began working in the vehicle design industry globally, via our connections with other design institutes such as the RCA in London. We aim to enable design graduates to pursue careers designing future transportation products and services within the engineering and styling parameters of the automotive, transportation and mobility industry.
Product Design and Intelligent Mobility studies at the institute allow students to focus on their own speciality topics, including innovative personal mobility, public transport, agricultural machinery, commercial, and freight vehicle design. The types of vehicles you can design vary from supercars to supertankers. Students achieve understanding in the processes of ideation, design, product research and development, usability, ergonomics and user centred design, user interface design, project management, branding, and a variety of visualisation, illustration and modelling techniques.
Key content includes.
- industry standard ideation and visualisation in 2D and 3D
- industry standard model making using clay and 3D printing
- understanding of sculptural 3D form and proportions
- vehicle design processes and project management
- vehicle safety, aerodynamics and security
- ecological sustainable design, cultural values, and branding
- vehicle engineering, human machine interface and ergonomics
- structures and materials
We currently teach in Finnish and English (officially Finnish) but almost all our teachers are proficient in English.
Applicant requirements
This field of design requires superb aesthetic perception in three dimensional form, intelligence and applied thinking, cooperation and communication skills, entrepreneurship and creative problem-solving abilities and a passion to design far future products and services for and around humans. Vehicle design requires advanced planning, trend analysis, branding and marketing awareness. Traditional drawing skills are essential for all designers.
Career opportunities
Depending on the student’s specialities, employment may be found in all creative product design development areas, as well as the vehicle industry.
Institute of Design vehicle design studies provide the capability to work in:
- personal transportation development • heavy transport vehicle development • marine and shipping industry development • industrial machinery and equipment development • agricultural machinery development • motorcycles and other light vehicles development • user interface and HMI development for vehicles • public transport vehicle development • virtual product development for games or film industry • design engineering or design illustration • conceptual design and illustration
How to apply
Application information can be found here.
International student exchange information can be found here.
If you understand Finnish, you can apply here www.studyinfo.fi
Please contact the course teachers directly for help (in English).
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The selection of candidates
The entry requirement is a general eligibility and successful completion of the entrance examination. Selection is based on the entrance examination, plus candidate interviews.
At the discretion of the Design Institute, applicants who do not meet the general eligibility criteria, but are deemed to have sufficient knowledge and skills and that show exceptional talent, may be selected.
Applicants are selected on the basis of the entrance examination. The final selection is based on entrance examination success. School certification is scored by the Institute of Design.
Additional Information
Basics
DURATION
4 years
SCOPE
240 credits
TYPE OF EDUCATION
Bachelor’s Degree
MODE OF STUDY
full time
PLACE
LAB University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Design and Fine Art, Mukkulankatu 19, Lahti