National Innovation Centre
The National Innovation Centre is the Design School of NIBM. Established in 2017 October, the school has been able to attract a significant number of students for the design degrees in Fashion Design, Interior Architecture, Sound and Music and a number of other humanities courses.
The center has not only made significant change in the history of NIBM, but also in the entire higher education landscape of the country. One of the greatest strengths the institute has is the right kind of affiliations that it has forged with international universities like the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology Malaysia (LUCT) and Coventry University UK. With these affiliations the institute offers not only the some of the most modern higher education degree programmes, but also makes them some of the most globally qualifies graduates.
NIBM for Gen Z
With a history of over fifty years the National Institute of Business Management has always been updated and has been abreast with the trend of the very changing world. At regular intervals the institute has updated its academic curriculum and has introduced the latest and the most update technology to the institute for the benefit of the students.
The competitions; National Emerging Designer is NIBM’s gift to the Gen Z of Sri Lanka to boost and develop it creativity while making a worth wile contribution to planet Earth. As the waste of different kinds have now become the biggest threat that the world now faces, the entire blame and the responsibility is on the shoulders of the humanity. As the creators of the problem of environmental pollutions the responsibility of finding feasible and long lasting solution also lies with human beings. The competition National Emerging Young Designer is bent of finding creative solutions to the problem of waste on the planet.
The Competition
The competition is aimed at finding creative solutions to for the problems with waste of different kinds. As the Design School of NIBM is producing generations of graduates to the world, it has expanded its vision to the Gen Z’ers of Sri Lanka to come up with re-use of the waste material to produce:
- Fashion products such as fabrics, and garments
- Fashion accessories such as bracelets, necklaces, ear studs etc.
- Products related to interior architecture such as building material, or any other construction material
- Interior architectural and interior design products
Basic competition criteria
As a competition bent on boosting the creativity of the young generation, the competition will consider the follow- ing as the main criteria:
Reuse of waste material
The competition items are to be made of reused waste material. The waste material has to be of the kinds which have become a burden to the world such as; plastic, polythene, any non-biodegradable material, E-waste etc.
Usability of the product/ item
The product or the item created using the waste material will have to be practically usable as fashion ware, accessories, construction or building material or interior architecture items such as furniture, wall hanging etc.
Creativity & Aesthetics
Aesthetic (beauty) value is another significant criterion which will be looked into by the competition. In the fashion design segment, the products or the items will have to be fashionable and wearable, and in the Interior Architecture segment the item created will have to have aesthetic value combined with durability and usability.
Competition procedures
Work Shops
1st Work Shop – May 4th 2020 – Focusing on teachers
Location: National Innovation Centre of NIBM, Baseline Road, No.24 Edmonton Rd, Colombo 05
Introduction will be given on
- Competition and its structure
- Marking and selection criteria
- Waste types and impact to the environment
- Product design and development process
2nd Work Shop – May 15th 2020 – Focusing on Students
- Location: National Innovation Centre of NIBM, Baseline Road, No.24 Edmonton Rd, Colombo 05
- In depth idea on waste types and product design and development process will be delivered.
3rd Work Shop – Aug 19th 2020 – Focusing on Semi-finalists
- Location: National Innovation Centre of NIBM, Baseline Road, No.24 Edmonton Rd, Colombo 05
- Instructions and step to be followed to Fine tune designs/ products will be given
Competition Rounds: 1st round – 10th July
- Location: National Innovation Centre of NIBM, Baseline Road, No.24 Edmonton Rd, Colombo 05
- Each team should submit:
- Research report on waste types you are using
- Its impact to the environment
- Your innovative solution
- Product which are already in the market locally and Globally Product development process
- Prototype of the product.
2nd round / Semi Final – 14th Aug 2020
- Location: National Innovation Centre of NIBM, Baseline Road, No.24 Edmonton Rd, Colombo 05
- 1:1 model should be submitted using actual materials
- Product report including product development process should be submitted
3rd round / Finals – 11th September 2020
- Location: National Innovation Centre of NIBM, Baseline Road, No.24 Edmonton Rd, Colombo 05
- Final Product should be submitted
- Fully completed research report including product development process should be submitted
Calling of Applications for the competition
A School will have the possibility to present any number of competing teams of the competition which consist of three members. After the applications are called the competing teams along with the teachers will be given aware- ness of the programme to enlighten them on the cause, objectives and the criteria of the competition. Once the creative competition items are present by the students of the schools, they will be displayed at an exhibition at the National Innovation Centre (NIC) of NIBM. A panel of judges will select the best 15 products which will qualify for the semi-final round.
Before the semi-final round the competing ten teams will be given two rounds of workshops and design thinking to improve the design, material and product quality of the creative items which they have presented to the compe- tition. They will also be taken on industry visits to provide them with a hands-on experience on how the some the industries have been adopting ‘waste’ already in the industries. This exposure and the training will provide an enlightening experience for the students to improve and develop their basic presentation up to ‘industry accepted level’.
The semi-final level is intended to select the best ten products for the final round. Here the criterial will be stringent, and the students will not only have to come up with their products but will have to:
- Describe the production process of the items presented.
- Reuse of the waste material used.
- The solution it provides for the environment from waste
- Aesthetic dimensions of the items
- Usability and durability of the product
The semi-finals will select the best seven products presented and which will proceed to the ‘grand final’ stage. In the ‘grand final’ the best seven products will be reviewed by the panel of judges based on the three simple criteria:
- Re-use of waste for the product(s)
- Durability of the products as a real usable item for fashion or interior
- Aesthetic quality
As the aesthetic quality of the product is not measurable in number but that it is a ‘quality’ a public voting system through SMS campaign will be used to select the best the second best and the third place which will win the awards and the prices of the competition.
Outcome of the competition
One of the most important aspects of the competition is that it makes the young emerging generation; design oriented, entrepreneurial, environmentally aware and responsive, and creative. All the designs present by the students will be patented with intervention by NIBM and will be present to local of global fashion and interior industry.
A report will be produced about the products presented by the student based on:
- Genesis of the design concept
- Material selection and processing process
- Product development and production process
The report will be produced with the intention that it will become of the first such instance where the students from the Sri Lankan schools have made a significant contribution both to the fashion and interior industries in Sri Lanka. Also, with the intention that it will become knowledge for such future efforts.