Astro collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University
As part of a commitment to supporting up and coming talent within the industry, Astro recently collaborated with final year product and furniture design students at Sheffield Hallam University with a lighting design project. The brief was kept simple - students were to design a suite of luminaires suitable for a hospitality setting which remained true to the Astro brand.
To help students understand more about the Astro design and development process, students were invited to Astro HQ and spent the day with Astro Co-Founder James Bassant and Engineering Manager Rob Speck. They were taken on a guided tour of the design, technical and logistical departments, highlighting both the commercial and creative elements of the business. Later in the project, James and Rob also took the time to visit the students at University to provide some key commercial insight, ensuring students had the context and validation for their design concepts.
Dean Stanford, Senior Lecturer commented that, "The advice, support and insight provided by Astro Lighting was excellent and was instrumental in ensuring that our students successful generated commercially viable concepts. I am in no doubt that the learning and industrial experience gained by working with Astro Lighting will have a positive impact on our student design careers."
Some feedback from the students involved included;
"It was great to work with a real company and benefit from all their experience and specialist knowledge."
"The visit to Astro Lighting was fantastic. It was great to see how one company operated up close and to appreciate the complexity and size of the business. James and Rob were great. They were really enthusiastic and excited about what they do."
"It is important as a student to be involved with commercial 'live' projects. I learned a great deal from this module and I am sure it will help me in my future design career."
Astro was delighted to be involved in the project and wish the best of luck to the students with their final studies.
