Design & Technology Innovation Courses
Design & Technology Innovation Courses
Core Courses
Core courses give you the foundations to excel in various design, technology and innovation leadership roles. Here are examples of core classes for fall 2024:
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In this course, students will practice applying design and innovation frameworks and methodologies in the context of a client-based project. As the first in the series of three courses core to the program, Design Innovation Studio I will focus on human-centered design, design thinking, and systems thinking as critical frameworks to frame problems and opportunities along with the client. Key outcomes from the class will include (1) opportunities identified and supported by qualitative and quantitative data; (2) concept directions that will support Design Innovation Studio II; and (3) a portfolio of early-stage prototypes and provocations used to guide data collection.
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In this course, students will advance their skills related to two technical toolkits core to design innovation practice: hardware prototyping, primarily digital fabrication and interactive systems developing using single-board computing and microcontroller platforms; and, introductory data science and machine learning, for driving data-driven design work in both hardware and digital applications. The course revolves around extensive in-class experimentation; weekly skill-building assignments; three mini-projects; and a final individual project intended to serve as a portfolio-ready piece.
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In this course, students will briefly review foundational design and innovation frameworks, understanding their history and contemporary critiques of them. Design methodologies and frameworks related to design ethics, design justice, participatory and co-design, social innovation and adjacent themes will be introduced. The course will involve a semester-long innovation project leveraging frameworks from the class, focused on a single client.