2020: Looking in the Rearview Mirror
2020 has been a big year for the partnership between BMW Group and QUT. Although there have been many difficulties as a result of this unprecedented year, it is heartening to report that 2020 has still been a great success.
The year began with the formal launch of the BMW Group + QUT Design Academy in early February. This was a great achievement for the two partners, and has set the stage for the next few years of cooperation. The academy was founded with three key pillars including Internships, Research and Special Projects Programs. The Internship Program was established to support undergraduate and postgraduate design students to improve their skills and provide a pathway into BMW Group. Research Program aims to spearhead a research agenda focused on exploring emerging technologies and understanding the impact of design thinking on multinational corporate contexts. Special Projects Program is focused on cutting-edge initiatives working with BMW Group teams on live projects. It is with great pleasure to report that we were successful in formally establishing all three program pillars this year, and exceeding our initial goals for Internship and Special Projects.
There have been many other triumphs throughout this year. One of the most important accomplishments was the appointment of our first two Design Associates; Michael Williams and Jordan Domjahn. The Design Associates concentrated on our Special Projects Program with BMW Group in Germany. They also assisted in general administration of the academy and helped set-up the processes and structures for other programs and initiatives. Further, the launch of our first WIL internship through the BMW Group + QUT Design Academy was a great success. Our first 4 student interns were inducted into the program and excelled in their tasks and are now well placed to apply for the BMW internship program in Munich. Our Research Program was also launched as we scouted for high-calibre national and international Masters and PhD applicants. The two research projects included a PhD focused on exploring the impacts of design thinking and expertise on corporate multinationals such as BMW Group, and a Masters on human-robot interactions within manufacturing and logistic contexts. We have some exciting news to share in the near future about these research projects. Last but not least we were extremely excited about the launch of idealworks, a new subsidiary company owned by BMW Group. We had known about this for some time, and it was pleasing to be able to share this with everyone once it was officially announced. Idealworks was made possible as a result of a long-term and large project that many of our QUT alumni and students have been involved with over a number of years. For most of this year the BMW Group + QUT Design Academy team were also working on assisting our colleagues at BMW Group and it became the cornerstone initiative through our Special Projects Program. It is thrilling to know that our partnership and collaboration over many years has been at the centre of such an important and bold initiative at BMW Group.
From before its founding the academy’s vision was to create a hub that focuses on fostering design excellence, exploring knowledge horizons and advancing cutting-edge technologies. We hope this first year has been just the start of what will be an exciting, inspirational and visionary undertaking that will continue to create positive outcomes for BMW Group and QUT and beyond.
The team and I are very proud of all of the incredible outcomes we have been able to accomplish this year, especially given the circumstances of 2020. We are very excited about 2021 and beyond! We continue to explore further avenues of collaborations within BMW Group across a wide range of projects, initiatives and activities and in the new year we will update you on our goals and ambitions for the year to come, so keep watching this space!
Wishing everyone a safe and joyous festive season and Happy New Year!
Rafael Gomez
Founder and Head of BMW Group + QUT Design Academy
