This link (industrial Design) attached will take you to some major projects from university students, who have to come up with their own project for their degree. These may give you inspiration or starting points for project ideas. Look at the Digital Degree Shows. This link is Product Design. This link is to previous shows.

I also have another real life problem to be solved. It is not a world changing problem but very personal, although this could then be replicated beyond. Click here for an example.

No matter how hard I try I really struggle to be able to grow Italian (Sweet) Basil at home. I want to have my own supply of this wonderful herb as I like to make my own pesto sauces for my family. Holy Basil, sold in all Thai markets and supermarkets, has an aniseed taste and it is not right. I have previously either had to buy 3 boxes / packets of refrigerated Basil from the supermarket (expensive) and mix with some spinach or purchase a Basil plant in a pot, which I have subsequently then struggled to keep alive or produce enough Basil to make my own pesto sauce. Getting the balance of water and sunlight right is the key and I keep failing!

So, the task would be, to design some form of Basil growing device for my apartment (it potentially could go outside but how would it be protected from insects and rain) that would 'look after' the growing of the basil, so I wouldn't need to worry about it, and would keep my stocks plentiful, thus being able to make regular fresh pesto for my family at an affordable cost. It could be bluetooth / wifi enabled also to let me know when it needs to be watered, soil moisture content etc.