MDE students are systematically educated as critical thinkers, managers of complexity, and strategists capable of creating comprehensive assessments and solutions to cross-disciplinary problems with social, political, economic, ethical, and technical components.
The first-year curriculum provides all of the necessary skills, techniques, and tools, along with the background knowledge needed to support innovation and effective cross-disciplinary collaboration. Year one introduces students in the studio setting to the fundamental tools that enable transformative and integrative design: data analysis and visualization, human-centered design thinking, persona studies, quantitative analysis, modeling and simulation on multiple scales, and prototyping and experimentation. The curriculum focuses on collaborative design engineering methods and design thinking for problem-solving, leadership, and management. The Integrative Frameworks class introduces students to topics and interconnections characteristic of the complex, intractable problems that MDE is challenging faculty and students to address in studio.
In the second year, students pursue a design engineering project much like a thesis by choosing a relevant area and identifying a suitable problem and challenge to address.
Students nominally take the equivalent of four or five courses per semester, and the equivalent of seventeen courses over two years. Each core course is taught jointly by GSD and SEAS faculty, and supplemented by visiting professionals who act as real-world specialists providing project-based direction.
Year 1: Integrative Frameworks: Technology, Environment and Society I/II
This required, two-semester course involves a combination of lectures, workshops, case studies, and classroom exercises, covering a range of topics that include: design thinking, system thinking, manufacturing operations, business strategy, industry architecture, government policy regulation, intellectual property and patents, ethics, and leadership.
Year 1: Collaborative Design Engineering Studio I/II
This two-semester sequence involves the entire student cohort collaborating on a real-world, multidisciplinary, complex problem. Students work directly with stakeholders and spend time outside the classroom doing field studies. Students learn how to understand the architecture of a complex problem domain, acquire compelling data visualization skills, learn techniques for numerical modeling both on the system as well as the small object scale, and understand how to synthesize work on multiple scales. The goal is to teach methods for developing and prototyping innovative solutions, and present them in practical settings among peers and visiting professionals. Skill workshops throughout the first semester create a common toolbox from which students can work.
Prior studio topics:
