Students of Industrial Engineering at design respond to challenge of Maier Company.

Last Friday, November 29, at Tecnun - School of Engineering of the University of Navarrathe third year students of the Degree of Engineering at design Industrial presented different projects developed in response to a challenge raised by the company Maier.

The challenge consisted of proposing concepts or products that would contribute to the transformation that vehicles may undergo with electrification. Among the proposals, solutions based on emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality stood out.

This subject of initiatives reinforces the collaboration between academia and business, fostering innovation in the field of industrial design . Maier, a leading company in the automotive sector, sought to attract talent and find novel ideas in the framework of this challenge. According to Estíbaliz Medina, a company representative, "We always find different approaches in the students' proposals, and on this occasion, there are ideas that could be developed as future solutions for our customers," she said.

During the event, the teams used goal Quest 2 glasses to present their proposals in immersive virtual environments. This technology allowed attendees to interact with the designs in an innovative way and better understand the concepts presented.

This activity was also part of the Final Project Degree of a fourth year student, Scarlete Romero, who is researching the implementation of virtual reality in the field of engineering and industrial design . Her project seeks to integrate virtual reality applications in the programs of Tecnun, with the goal to optimize and enrich students' work processes. "Virtual reality offers a middle ground in terms of effort and time compared to traditional tools such as renderings, animation videos or physical prototypes. It also improves companies' understanding of the projects," he says.

The development of this final project Degree has had the support of the following professors Javier Aldazábal y Mabel Rodriguezwho identified the potential of the goal Quest 2 goggles and encouraged their use in practical activities. According to the student, "virtual reality can reduce costs and time in the initial phases of ideation and iteration, and also has great potential in the more technical field of engineering".

For her part, the student valued the experience of collaborating in activities that connect studies with industry, highlighting the opportunity to work under pressure and face the uncertainty of developing something new. 

The incorporation of technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence in the industrial design reinforces the students' ability to adapt to the demands of a constantly changing environment. In addition, an initiative like this "validates the training received and prepares us for the real challenges of the labor market," according to Scarlete Romero.