OPDD Faculty Speaks on Sustainable Design at Outdoor Retailer

The Outdoor Retailer show is an opportunity for people in the sports and outdoor industry to gather, review the state of the industry, review and purchase new products, as well as learn from one another. Once again, a Utah State University Outdoor Product Design and Development faculty member was asked to present at the Trend & Design Center on the show floor at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver in November.

Andrew Deceuster gave a presentation titled: New Tools in the Fight for Sustainability. Deceuster shared with the audience, the immense opportunity that product designers have to adopt tools and technology that not only facilitate better design, but more sustainable product creation.

Through the use of digital tools as well as rapid prototyping, companies can reduce the amount of back and forth between a design team and a factory, eliminating waste, creating a more sustainable development process and delivering products more quickly to market.

In addition to rapid prototyping improving sustainability, new 3D design tools can even calculate the carbon footprint of a product and in real time suggest improvements to design that will reduce waste, cost, or suggest alternative materials that are more sustainable.

Deceuster emphasized that  tools that are currently available that can be adopted and that companies don’t have to compromise the bottom line for more sustainable practices. A lot of these tools and practices will reduce development times and waste and in turn produce a better product for the consumer.

As companies are more willing to look to the future, a more sustainable industry truly becomes more attainable.

To view the whole presentation recorded by the Outdoor Retailer team, click HERE.