Kansas University Design Department announces project with Nokia

HULIQ:

The Department of Design in KU’s
School of Fine Arts announced that it has developed a project with
telecommunication industry leaders Nokia and Cingular, now part of the
new AT&T. Partnering with the School of Journalism’s News and
Information area as well as The School of Business Entrepreneurship
Program, the design department will examine the high-end Nokia N93 and
N73 camera phones.

 

“The
significance here is the participation of two of the world’s largest
brands supporting KU with real products and services for educational
advancements,” said Gregory Thomas, chair of the design department.
“Our students are in need of real-world challenges involving real-world
industry, and we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to bring
several schools together on one project.”

Thomas has had a long-time relationship with Nokia’s Design
Director/Brand Experience Designer Gerardo Herrera. Shortly before the
December holiday, a proposal was made for a cross-disciplinary project
examining current and potential use of the sophisticated hardware.
Nokia responded with a gift of up to six phones and additional
hardware. Thomas then approached Cingular/AT&T and received six
months activation and call/data usage for the project.

“Nokia has a positive impact on society that extends beyond the
advanced technology products and services the company creates. Nokia is
an active contributor to educational causes, with employees making
their own contribution as volunteers in a range of programs throughout
the world,” said Herrera. “Our design teams continue to explore
collaborative connections of multidisciplinary educational teams to
help create breakthrough innovations that enable a comprehensive
approach of both the mobile and customer experience,” said Herrera.
“Nokia Design is looking forward to KU’s insight in this
multi-disciplinary project, their use of AT&T services and our
Nokia mobile devices.”

Helping the future journalists of America. Awesome.