New Camera Design with enhanced ergonomics (credit: Alec Fenech)
As high-performance camera technology from the University of Malta continues to evolve, the team behind the project released a glimpse of what the final product may look like. MEMENTO (Multi camEra high fraMe ratE syNchronisaTiOn) is an ambitious project undertaken by the Electronic Systems Engineering Department at the University of Malta in collaboration with MST AudioVisual Ltd. This project seeks to commercialise a raft of new home-grown technologies that have been developed by Maltese engineers.
Alec Fenech, who is effectively leading the mechanical engineering team behind the project, is on the verge of completing his Masters’ studies and has researched ways of combining form with function whist keeping the end-user in mind. Supervised by Dr. Ing. Emmanuel Francalanza, (from the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department) and co-supervised by Dr Ing. Marc Anthony Azzopardi and Mr Andre Micallef, Alec’s task was to develop a product concept from the ground up in a way that encompasses the psychological biases and desires of eventual customers, without compromising on the functionality and ergonomics of the product.
.
Product design often begins with a clean sheet and a myriad of possible features. However, few of those directions would be successful on the market if they do not take into account the priorities of customers in the context of current trends and perceptions, and how these are reflected in the physical form of the product.
The cameras developed during the MEMENTO project evolved over a number of design cycles, with each taking into account new constraints and advances in the underlying technology. This prompted Alec to develop techniques based on Japanese Kansei Engineering to render this process more efficient.
“As the product completes its third design cycle, the result is looking much closer to the best that the current market can offer. The MEMENTO project has driven home-grown talent towards the bleeding edge of electronics technology and product design, and has served our Faculty well in providing many of our students with far more than just a glimpse of what real world engineering entails,” said Dr Ing. Marc Anthony Azzopardi, who has secured close to €200,000 of funding for the project from the Malta Council of Science and Technology, through FUSION: The R&I Technology Development Programme.
