Students will explore the benefits and challenges of working with a design team to address a complex product, problem, or system. Students will explore group dynamics, creativity in design teams, as well as the nature of complex problems and the various methods required to solve them.

The industrial design internship provides students the option to work in the industrial design field. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Internship Permission Form to enroll.

Industrial Design Independent Study provides students the means to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. With the assistance of their faculty advisers, students will propose a course of study. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. A 3.0 or higher GPA required.

The first of a two-course thesis sequence, the focus of this course is on establishing content, planning, scheduling, and research seeking innovative solutions through the process of concept development, ideation, and in-process evaluation. Final articulation of the project is approved by a faculty committee, presented in a graduate thesis show and accompanied by a written document that addresses how the theories and methods used in the project impact the current and future state of design in society.

Industrial Design Independent Study provides students the means to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. With the assistance of their faculty advisers, students will propose a course of study. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. **NOTE: Student must have a minimum 3.0 GPA **

The second of a two-course thesis sequence, this course focuses on continued concept development of a thesis, concluding with the implementation and retrospective evaluation of chosen design problem. Solution is presented in a public exhibition, complemented by a written articulation of how the theories and methods employed in the project impact the current and future state of design in society.

Climate change, racism, lack of accessibility, poverty, moral disagreement, civil conflict, access to water, and piracy are all examples of enduring human problems. This shell course allows students to explore a single “human problem” across disciplines, bringing together knowledge from liberal arts, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health, arts and design. Students will read transformative texts across a variety of disciplines and apply those texts to a single modern “human” problem in this project-based course. Students will pay particular attention to the social and ethical components within the texts, the problem, its causes, and proposed solutions. The possible problems are intentionally broad and reach across multiple disciplines. Students will be expected to apply their understanding to practice-based projects in interdisciplinary groups and then present their findings, demonstrating both the breadth and depth of their understanding, as well as their creativity. Throughout the semester and in each assignment, students will explore the ethical and social implications of the course topic, exploring the ways different disciplinary approaches assess and think about ethical and social problems and their possible solutions.