Design and TechnologyQ&A by dot point

Anthropometrics and ergonomics: using anthropometric data and percentile ranges to size a product, designing for the human user, inclusive and accessible design, and how ergonomics affects comfort, safety and ease of use.

Communicating design ideas: freehand sketching, 2D and 3D pictorial drawing (isometric and perspective), exploded and assembly drawings, working (orthographic) drawings with dimensions, and computer-aided design (CAD).

Design strategies and the iterative design process: investigation, primary and secondary research, collaboration, user-centred design, avoiding design fixation, and the explore, create and evaluate cycle that develops a product through testing and feedback.

Enterprise, innovation and marketing in business and industry, and the production systems that support them, including flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), just in time (JIT) production, lean manufacturing, crowd funding and the marketing of products.

Investigating needs and writing a design brief and specification: identifying the primary user and wider stakeholders, primary and secondary research, analysing existing products, and writing measurable design and manufacturing specification criteria.

New and emerging technologies: how they impact industry, enterprise, people, culture, society and the environment, including automation, CAD/CAM, the changing workforce, and the positive and negative effects of technological change.

Ensuring accuracy in manufacture: CAD/CAM and CNC, jigs, templates and fixtures, quality control and quality assurance, and tolerances, including reading and working within an upper and lower limit.

Scales of production: one-off (bespoke), batch, mass and continuous production, the features of each, and how the choice of scale depends on the quantity, cost and type of product being made.

Deforming and reforming processes: shaping by bending, pressing, vacuum forming and line bending (deforming), and shaping molten material by injection moulding, casting and blow moulding (reforming), with suitable processes for each material.

Wastage and addition processes: removing material by cutting, sawing, drilling, milling, turning and laser cutting (wastage), and joining material by adhesives, fastenings and welding (addition), with suitable processes for each material category.

Surface treatments and finishes: why finishes are applied (protection, appearance, function), and suitable finishes for each material, including painting, varnishing and oiling timber, galvanising, anodising and powder coating metal, and self-finishing polymers.

Physical and working properties of materials and their sources: defining properties such as strength, hardness, toughness, malleability, ductility, elasticity and conductivity, the difference between physical and working properties, and the origins of the main material categories.

Ferrous and non-ferrous metals and alloys: the difference between ferrous and non-ferrous metals, what an alloy is, common examples, their physical and working properties such as conductivity, malleability and corrosion resistance, and typical uses.

Papers and boards: common types of paper and card, how they are measured by weight (gsm) and thickness (microns), their physical and working properties, and typical uses in modelling, packaging and graphics.

Thermoforming and thermosetting polymers: the difference between thermoplastics and thermosets, common examples, their physical and working properties, recyclability, and typical uses in products and packaging.

Selecting materials and stock forms, and costing: choosing a material to suit a product, the standard stock forms materials are supplied in (sheet, bar, rod, tube, section), and calculating material cost from price per unit, including allowing for waste.

Fibres and textiles: natural, synthetic and blended fibres, how fibres are made into woven, knitted and non-woven fabrics, their physical and working properties, and typical uses in clothing and products.

Natural and manufactured timber: hardwoods and softwoods, manufactured (manmade) boards, the difference between hardwood and softwood, common examples, their physical and working properties, and typical uses.

Composite materials and technical textiles: how composites combine two or more materials for properties not possible alone (GRP, CFRP, MDF, concrete), and technical textiles engineered for performance (conductive, fire-resistant, microfibres, Kevlar), with their properties and uses.

Ecological and social footprint: the environmental impact of materials and products (resource depletion, pollution, carbon footprint, waste), the social impact (working conditions, communities, fair trade), and how design choices reduce both.

Product life cycle and sustainability: the stages of a product's life cycle and life-cycle assessment, the 6 Rs (rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair, recycle), design for disassembly, maintenance and repair, and the finite nature of resources.

Smart and modern materials: smart materials that respond to their environment (shape memory alloys, thermochromic and photochromic pigments) and modern materials developed by science (graphene, titanium, metal foams, nanomaterials), their properties and uses.

Social, cultural, ethical and inclusive issues in design: how products reflect and are influenced by cultural and social factors, the role of inclusive and accessible design, ethical issues such as planned obsolescence, and the influence of design movements and designers.

Energy generation and storage: fossil fuels and nuclear power, renewable sources (wind, solar, tidal, hydroelectric and biomass), their advantages and disadvantages, and energy storage in products including primary and rechargeable (secondary) cells.

Forces, stresses and motion: tension, compression, bending, torsion and shear, the four types of motion (linear, rotary, reciprocating, oscillating), levers and the three lever classes, mechanical advantage, and linkages that change the direction or type of motion.

Rotary motion systems: gears and gear trains, gear ratios and how they change speed and torque, pulley and belt systems with velocity ratios, and cams and followers that convert rotary motion into reciprocating or oscillating motion.

Input, process and output components: switches and sensors (light-dependent resistors and thermistors) as inputs, transistors, integrated circuits and microcontrollers as process devices, and LEDs, buzzers and motors as outputs, with their functions and uses.

The systems approach to designing: the input, process and output model, representing systems with block diagrams, breaking products into sub-systems, the role of programmable components and microcontrollers, and feedback in control systems.

Generating, developing and modelling ideas in the NEA: producing a range of design ideas, developing the best against the specification, using modelling and prototyping to test ideas, communicating with sketches, drawings and CAD, and planning manufacture.

Investigating the context and user in the NEA: primary and secondary research, identifying the user and wider stakeholders, analysing existing products, and writing a design brief and a measurable specification that the project will be judged against.

Making, testing and evaluating in the NEA: manufacturing a final prototype safely and accurately with suitable processes and finishes, testing against the specification and the user, and writing a final evaluation that judges fitness for purpose and suggests improvements.

The design and make task (Component 2): the structure and weighting of the NEA, the WJEC contextual challenges released on 1 June, how the task is assessed against the assessment objectives, and how to choose and interpret a challenge.