Additive manufacturing technologies are shifting from rapid prototyping technologies to end use or final parts production. Polymeric material extrusion processes have been broadly addressed with a specific definition of all parameters and variables for all different of technologies approaches and materials. Recycled polymeric materials have been studied due to the growing importance of the environmental awareness of the contemporary society. Beside this, little specific research has been found in product development applications for AM where the printed parts are in highly moisture environments or surrounded by water, but polymers have been for long used in such industries with conventional manufacturing approaches. This work focuses on the analysis and comparison of two different additively manufactured polymers printed by fused filament fabrication (FFF) processes using desktop-size printers to be applied for product design. The polymers used have been a recycled material: polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) and polylactic acid (PLA). Degradation and water absorption behaviors of both materials are presented, analyzed and discussed in this paper, where different samples have been immersed in saturated solutions of water with maritime salt and sugar together with a control sample immersed in distilled water. The samples have been dimensionally and weight-controlled weekly as well as microscopically analyzed to understand degradation and absorption processes that appear in the fully saturated solutions. The results revealed how the absorption process is stabilized after a reduced number of weeks for both materials and how the degradation process is more remarked in the PLA material due to its organic nature.

This research analyses the impact of COVID-19 on the Spanish university system during the period of home lockdown put in place by the government of Spain between 15 March and 21 June 2020. This period did not involve a change to online teaching. Instead, it involved emergency remote teaching, wherein the content of face-to-face teaching was taught through non-classroom training using media, devices and tools available at that time. The main objective of the paper is related to the perceptions of students and teachers on emergency remote teaching regarding the face-to-face model. We applied statistical techniques of descriptive and inferential analysis over a sample of 2778 students and 221 teaching staff from the University of Cádiz. We also analysed the methodologies used, as well as the acquisition of skills, competencies and knowledge by the students in this situation, in order to detect whether this type of action can achieve sustainable education. This term refers to education that is capable of maintaining the continuous quality of the training of each student, who should acquire the required knowledge and competences regardless of unforeseen events. However, according to the results of this research, the sudden transition to e-learning, based on available technological and computer-based methods, did not guarantee sustainable education or its quality. This study establishes different possibilities for improving non-face-to-face teaching in this kind of situation. The results show greatly concerning levels of training and evaluation, as well as worse acquisition of skills. Both teachers and students declared a preference for face-to-face teaching. This perception should prompt the educational authorities to solve the existing problems in e-learning education, improving the transition and guaranteeing the sustainability of non-face-to-face education. This research highlights the areas for improvement in e-learning education in the ongoing situation, the general uncertainty in the transition, the lack of communication and the completion of a fair evaluation system. The results show that the methods used in this period must be improved to achieve sustainable teaching and learning during a pandemic. The results also emphasize the uncertainty in the educational community about the entire process. This study will help the educational authorities to improve the change of paradigm in higher education in the future.

This article introduces a methodological approach to the evaluation of different industrial products according to Norman’s approach and dimensions, focusing on a specific case study. The study also shows different possibilities to guide industrial designers during the design process in order to create products with high emotional value. For those, the case study was done with 330 target specific users, submitting nine prototypes (designed for different targets) to the user experience evaluation and product perception analysis. The evaluated proposals were selected from a total of 45. The results show the visceral, behavioural and reflective levels perceived by those users to whom each product is intended, as well as the target deviation within the design process. In this sense, the emotional response reveals the asymmetric character of perception according to Norman’s dimensions.

Industrial Design depends on industry, society and enterprise, all in constant change. The sector's companies and professionals admit a gap between skills, competences and knowledge acquired in the University, and what is demanded by the labor market. In addition, there has been a clear dissatisfaction and lack of preparation on graduates, and a distrust on the employing company towards the profession. This research, facilitates adaptability and proposes the improvement of the current curriculum of Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering Degree (IDPDED) according to the Andalusian regulation, being adaptable to other autonomous communities, and counting on participation of 195 professionals, 36 companies and 80 professors nationwide, that recognize this gap, in addition to other difficulties or deficiencies, especially legislative and administrative, for University-Business collaboration. Proposed training model takes into account the needs of the three different groups, as well as the current legislation, concluding with a participative, and collaborative, dual training plan. The designed plan is flexible and adaptable both, to companies and to time, giving companies the possibility to participate (passively or actively) in the training of their future employers. The model adapts, in addition to any Degree, fostering local employability, and nurturing both society and the economy itself through the transfer of knowledge.

The market is experiencing an expanding range of products, prompting manufacturing companies to differentiate themselves from competitors by moving away from conventional concepts. However, these innovations often fail to meet consumer expectations, leading to product failure, and consequently, an unsustainable evolution of the market and the business. This unsustainability requires designers to adapt innovations to align with consumer needs and desires. Understanding and validating these adaptations can be achieved by examining users’ emotional responses to innovative products. The objective of this study is to assess the influence of innovation in the development of new successful products, sales performance, and, therefore, business sustainability. This evaluation is based on the perceptions of potential consumers through the analysis of users’ emotional responses to various new product concepts at different design stages. A case study presents the evaluation of 48 new interactive lamp concepts categorized into relaxation, study, and leisure topics. The target audience for these concepts is consumers aged 18 to 24. The designs were developed by 12 teams of final-year industrial design students using insights from a prior psychographic study involving over 800 potential consumers. The findings highlight differences in users’ perceptions of innovative and traditional products across topics. These differences relate to users’ interest, intuitiveness, and desirability toward a product. Generally, traditional product concepts are perceived as more intuitive, but users show greater interest and desire for innovative concepts, with some variations among the analyzed topics. The business environment is encouraged to share these data with new product-development teams to achieve sustainable market and business growth.