Industrial Design

The industrial design major for the Bachelor of Science is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD). Industrial Designers create new product shapes and styles and redesign existing products, using new technologies, processes and materials. Many people can and do predict future products. In contrast, industrial designers are trained to analyze people’s needs and desires and match forms, functions, materials, processes, and technologies to provide better product solutions. Industrial designers do more than predict the future—they prescribe it.

The Industrial Design Program takes seriously the growing demand for new, creative, and effective technological solutions to the problems facing contemporary society. The program’s goal is to prepare students to compete and succeed today and in the future.

All students must pass through an assessment portfolio review before passing on to junior-level status. The details of this process are outlined on the ID Program Web site and are available in hard copy from the IND Department office.

Student Learning Objectives For All Industrial Design Majors

To the standard of an entry level professional designer, graduating students should be able to:

Perform, organize, analyze and report in written form; qualitative and quantitative research that contributes to the definition and solution of given design problems.
Formulate and assess multiple concepts and debate their strengths and weaknesses. Select appropriate final solutions for design problems.
Demonstrate proficiency in; hand sketching, perspective rendering, and technical drawing; physical and/or computer modeling, methods of prototyping.
Compare and assess aesthetic, structural, economic, and consumer safety aspects of different industrial materials and manufacturing processes in order to choose the most appropriate for each component of a proposed design solution.
Prepare and deliver verbal presentations that demonstrate visual organization skills and proficiency in media technology.
Analyze current and historically relevant designs that relate to a given problem.
Consider form semantics, human factors, business and professional practices, sustainability issues, and cultural influences in order to develop appropriate design solutions.