HSC Design and Technology exam 2026Exam: Thu 29 Oct · NESA timetable

Life cycle analysis assesses impact across raw materials, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal, which is why a recyclable material with very high embodied energy can be less sustainable overall than a simpler, lower energy alternative.

Appropriate technology is judged by fit to context, not by sophistication, so a simple, repairable solution that users can afford and maintain can be more appropriate than an advanced product they cannot support.

Criteria to evaluate success are written at the briefing stage and used at every later stage, making them the single thread that connects identifying the need to the final evaluation in the Major Design Project.

Primary research is original data you collect yourself through surveys, interviews, observation and testing, while secondary research is existing information from sources such as books, standards and reputable websites, and strong folios combine both.

A standard Australian patent grants up to twenty years of exclusive rights to exploit an invention, the protection that allowed CSIRO to recover hundreds of millions of dollars for its Wi Fi technology after litigation against companies using it without a licence.

Innovations rarely fail for a single reason. The most common cause of failure is a missing or misjudged market, not poor technology, which is why analysis of market factors usually carries the strongest evidence in a case study.

Additive manufacturing turns mass customisation into an economic reality because a 3D printer costs the same to make one bespoke item as one standard item, removing the tooling cost that makes traditional one-off manufacture expensive.

The cochlear implant is a model impact case because it shows opposing consequences at once: a profound positive social and economic benefit for many recipients, alongside genuine cultural objection from parts of the Deaf community, demonstrating that impact is rarely one sided.