Growing numbers of Taiwanese designers are working in the country’s bicycle industry, although the majority of them are still focusing on consumer electronics, a local executive said on Thursday.
Shikuan Chen (陳禧冠), vice president of Compal Electronics Inc’s (仁寶電腦) innovation design and technology section, said that many young people at local design schools are attracted to electronics products, as that is where most resources are invested in design terms.
His remarks came in response to a question from Mark Sanders, a noted bicycle designer from the UK, on the sidelines of a workshop at the Taipei International Cycle Show, one of the world’s three largest bicycle shows.
During his presentation at the workshop, Sanders said that Taiwan has one of the best education systems in the world.
“Why are there so few engineering and design graduates in the bicycle industry?” he asked.
“Do they prefer the electronics industry? Is bicycle engineering seen as ‘low, old technology’?”
Chen said that more young people have been taking up bicycle design in the past few years since Taiwan’s bicycle industry began to enjoy a boom.
“However, people are still waiting to see whether it is a temporary phenomenon or a permanent one,” Chen said.
Chen and Sanders also shared their ideas on the difference between designers in the East and in the West.
Asked to elaborate on the differences, Chen said Western designers excel at innovation and originality, while their Taiwanese counterparts specialize in putting ideas into practice.
He attributed this to the differences in educational philosophies in Western countries and in Taiwan.
“We encourage less in the way of innovative thinking, while stressing practical experience,” Chen said.
He also said Taiwanese people pay more attention to saving on costs than creating added value through branding, for instance.
Chen added that designers from the East and the West would make good teams, with each playing to their own strengths.
Han Goes, the moderator of the workshop and a judge of the 2009 International Bicycle Design Competition, said he had observed that the performance of Taiwanese designers in the bicycle industry is “rapidly growing.”
“I think it’s not a coincidence,” he said. “It comes together with a bicycle explosion in Taiwan.”
Goes said he foresees even greater potential for Taiwan if the country’s bike industry and design schools can work together.
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