The module will first introduce a broad view of the design process. Identifying customer needs, establishing product specifications, concept generation and selection. Followed by product architecture, industrial design stages and prototyping. The module will then focus on plastics product design and discuss part integration/part minimisation. Shape constraints related to the melt flow index and minimisation of the cycle time. The use of effective shapes for stiffness and the economics of production will be discussed. The module will discuss aspects of manufacturing design for shaped metal components. A parallel theme will describe the characterisation of materials via the common techniques such as Optical Microscopy, SEM and TEM, DTA and X-Rays. The module will be taught by lectures, case studies and practical demonstrations.