design.nexus

MTech Kyle Brand

PhD Researcher

Kyle Brand

Contact

Focus

  • POLYMATH INTERPOLATION IN TRANSDISCIPLINARY OPEN-ENDED DESIGN

Short CV

Since completing a Master of Technology in Industrial Design at the University of Johannesburg (2014) I accepted a full-time lecturing position at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). During my time at the University of Johannesburg I was one of the founding members of the Design Society Development group which became a DESIS (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) Lab. Since joining TUT I have been part of various projects and research endeavours. These include the TUT Solar car project, as the design manager, overseeing and designing three complete solar cars. With the 2018 car, Sunchaser 3 achieved the position of best South African team in the Sasol Solar Challenge. The 2020 car completed a more than 2000km journey from Pretoria, South Africa to Swakopmund, Namibia using only solar energy. Some of my main contributions in the project are the surface body design of the car and the cnc programming of multi axis robotic arm milling setup for the cutting of the moulds. I also have been part of the design and development of an artificial nest for the Southern Ground Hornbill in partnership with the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project which is now maturing into my PhD study.

My research and published conference papers have included topics linked to using participatory co-design methods for product resilience, design methods and prototyping (“concept simulation”). Topics of interest to include: transdisciplinarity, systems thinking, sustainability, open-design, circular economy, and social innovation.