Recently, NEFU Industrial Design students from the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering were invited to participate in the 14th Harbin International Furniture and Woodworking Machinery Exhibition. The exhibition was held in the Harbin Convention and Exhibition Center and attracted 505 exhibitors.

NEFU exhibited more than 30 pieces of furniture design with the theme of “the Fun of Storage.” These works were the result of the Industrial Design students’ course assignment— “Furniture Modeling Design”, hand-made of pine, pursuing practicality and functionality, with diverse design style and high practical value. The works have been well received by many visitors, and the relevant furniture companies expressed their desire to industrialize the work. Ms. Zhang Bingbing, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Furniture Association, and Ms. Zhang Ping, chairman of Harbin Furniture Association, made personal appearances at the exhibition.

The opportunity to participate in a large-scale exhibition not only encouraged the innovation of students’ extracurricular practice, but also expanded an effective way to improve their practical ability and overall quality. According to Zhang Yang, the course instructor, in order to allow students to design “floor”, the “Furniture Modeling Design” course chose the rational use of home space as a starting point to guide students to combine the storage culture and furniture design to design furniture products for the collection of small items in a modern home life.

Zhang Jiawei, vice-dean of the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, said that it can be more convincing for the access to market of students’ work after the evaluation by professional teachers and the judgment by consumers. From the school to the exhibition booth, not only the exhibition place and form are what changed, but also the result of teaching reform and adjustment of the undergraduate professional training program.