Students in Design Education are equipped to enter their respective creative industries. It is the intention that their skills and capabilities, once they graduate, are matched as closely as possible to the industries into which they will fit. During their time within the higher education faculty, they need to be exposed to relevant technologies and processes. By adapting manufacturing technologies for small-scale use in the classroom, students can gain hands-on experience and integrate these technologies into their learning processes.

Experiential learning methodologies will be unpacked alongside manufacturing technologies, which worked very effectively within the design educational environment. Students are able to gain practical experience in the manufacturing process, work collaboratively, and solve real-world design problems.

Over the past few years, several manufacturing technologies have been adapted for use in the industrial design lecture environment, including Rotational Moulding, Injection Moulding, Sand Casting, and Press Forming. Machines, tools, and processes have been experimented with and adapted to be operated on a small scale. Practical examples of these adaptations will be presented, including design outcomes that students have developed through their own project undertakings.

The results of students being able to replicate the manufacturing processes in the classroom environment have proven to be extremely successful, with project outcomes effectively illustrating large, real-world industry manufacturing concepts through practical demonstrations. The students' understanding of appropriate industry concepts is evident in their theory research reports, which are submitted alongside their project outcomes. Students document their own design process with reference to industry processes, illustrating their effective understanding of the core principles.

The value of students being able to visit industry partners during their studies is extremely high, however, simulating large-scale processes on a small scale within the lecturing environment allows students to experiment and learn hands-on in a free and safe working space prior to heading into industry. Furthermore, these small manufacturing machinery and tools are able to effectively manufacture small products and components at a suitable quality for incorporation into real product outcomes.