Johan Ariff
Industrial Designer, IME Trading Sdn. Bhd., 2008
Diploma in Product Design
In order to succeed, you need to set a target and standards for yourself to achieve, and if you haven’t met them 100%, you have to keep looking back and finding ways to improve. If you take things for granted and behave stubbornly in this industry, failure will come knocking at your door.
08 October 2008
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The Man who Loves Machines
Written by Christine Chan
Johan Ariff loves machines. A technical wiz kid who dreamed of designing cars as he grew up watching his father work in the fields of structural, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, Johan has been thinking, loving and dreaming of working with machines since he was a child.
Today, as an Industrial Designer at IME Trading Sdn. Bhd., Johan Ariff is living his dream.
Graduating in 2001 with a Diploma in Product Design from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Johan has high praises and fond memories of his alma mater. “I’ve never regretted a day in my life at the university,” he enthuses.
The University was such a fun place to learn in because it gave me freedom to expand my creativity and the lecturers were like friends to us! I felt really comfortable and at home in Limkokwing.
“The University was such a fun place to learn in because it gave me freedom to expand my creativity and the lecturers were like friends to us! I felt really comfortable and at home in Limkokwing.”
Johan, who used his internship period when he was a student there as the platform from which he would leap into the professional industrial design and engineering industry, was hired immediately by the company he was interning in, Rapid Tech Solutions, after his graduation.
Working as an Industrial Designer in the company, Johan worked on consumer product designing and CAD technology for three years before shifting to IME Trading Sdn Bhd, a company that specializes in design and modeling, NC programmings, ICT support, reverse engineering and rapid prototyping.
“As an industrial design engineer, my job field involves multi-tasking many related work. I handle matters concerning designing, reverse engineering and applications management,” explained Johan.
Limkokwing offers a good balance between practical and theoretical learning, as a result, their graduates are well-recognized by professionals of a student’s desired industry.
Johan does more than just tinker with machines. While at IME Trading, Johan had direct involvement in the marketing of a rapid prototype machine designed by the renowned multinational machine manufacturer, ZCorporation. The machine, which is capable of transforming CAD designs into 3D models in the span of an hour, is a marked improvement over other machines that take up to six hours to conduct the same process.
“It was an opportunity for me to learn communication skills and improve my presentation skills,” said Johan, who also carried out intensive training to clients on the functions of the machine.
In 2006, Johan moved on to Laser Graphics Sdn Bhd where he worked as a manager, again specializing in the machine, before shifting back to IME Trading. The company viewed him as a valuable asset and he was immediately roped into their design department upon returning.
Johan believes that the hands-on teaching style in Limkokwing University helped a lot in encouraging students to think creatively and innovatively. “Limkokwing offers a good balance between practical and theoretical learning,” Johan explains, “as a result, their graduates are well-recognized by professionals of a student’s desired industry.”
In order to succeed, you need to set a target and standards for yourself to achieve, and if you haven’t met them 100%, you have to keep looking back and finding ways to improve.
Johan has some advice to offer students who intend to embark into the world of industrial design. “In order to succeed, you need to set a target and standards for yourself to achieve, and if you haven’t met them 100%, you have to keep looking back and finding ways to improve.”
“If you take things for granted and behave stubbornly in this industry, failure will come knocking at your door,” Johan adds. “A lot of people make the mistake of pushing forward with a design even if they already know that the designs will fail, because of their stubbornness.”
Although Johan is now absorbed in the field of prototype machines, he is optimistic that one day, he will be able to do what he has wanted to do as a child: create customization designs for the automotive industry. The future looks bright for this young man.
