Exciting transformations have taken place at the College of Design, as several spaces have been renovated to enhance the student experience. The college recently completed renovations in Rapson Hall Rooms 1 and 253; McNeal Hall Suite 32, 12, and 18; and 1425 University Ave. Rooms 75 and 175. All of the renovations have resulted in refreshed and reimagined areas that cater to the needs of students from across design programs.
The College of Design is pleased to announce that 12 of its individuals and teams received funding from the University’s 2023 Imagine Fund. These grants support innovative research in the arts, humanities, and design fields. Design faculty and researchers will use the funds for historical investigation and analysis, community-based design, and experimental technology applications.
Every year faculty, instructors, researchers, and students from across the College of Design present their research during the annual Research and Creative Scholarship Showcase. You can learn more about the 2023 presenters and their work in this year’s round-up.
On Thursday, June 1, Executive Vice President and Provost Rachel T.A. Croson announced the appointment of Dr. Prasad Boradkar as the next Dean of the College of Design, effective September 5, 2023.
Students in the Product Innovation Lab course partnered with Minnesota-based company Rockler Woodworking and Hardware to design tools and products that make crafting easier for makers and woodworkers with limited space.
Each spring, College of Design students from across our programs showcase their work through final reviews, presentations, and exhibitions. Join us in celebrating the end of the academic year by attending one of our final events!
Three product design projects were awarded grants as part of the MIN-CORPS MVP Challenge! MVP or "Minimum Viable Product" is a tool to show customers and stakeholders how an innovative idea could work, capture feedback, and bring a concept one step closer to reality.
February is career month at the University of Minnesota! Open to current students and recent alumni the month is chock-full of job fairs, networking events, webinars, and workshops.
The College of Design invites current students and recent graduates to attend one of our fall career events! Are you an alumnus or employer who's hiring? Register to attend one of our events as an employer to meet our future designers.
From tackling the user experience design of the Metaverse to developing customized pediatric respiratory masks, our faculty are conducting research across the design fields and beyond. This spring, 12 faculty members received grants from the University’s Imagine Fund, which supports innovative research in the arts, humanities, and design fields.
Help celebrate our students’ hard work by joining the College of Design community for final reviews, exhibitions, and showcases featuring work from across our design disciplines.
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a physical heart defect that begins in the womb, impacting around 40,000 children born in the U.S. each year. On a mission to improve education for diagnosed children and their families, Drs. Amr El-Bokl and Gurumurthy Hiremath (Department of Pediatrics, UMN Medical School), partnered with product design undergraduate student Levi Skelton and Assistant Professor Carlye Lauff to create a product for teaching children about CHD.
The University of Minnesota’s College of Design is pleased to announce that internationally acclaimed architect, Frank Owen Gehry, CC, FAIA, will be the inaugural speaker for the new Kusske Lecture & Dialogue Series on Tuesday, November 16.
The concept that science can and should be accessible to all is the grounding principle behind the Science Communication Lab at the University of Minnesota. Founded to provide interdisciplinary internship opportunities, the lab has consistently attracted College of Design undergraduate students interested in creating stories or media that make complex research and scientific topics accessible to the general public.
Innovation starts with new challenges and fresh perspectives, a concept well known to both the Product Design program and Andersen Corporation. This notion formed the basis of their spring 2021 collaboration when graduating product design seniors worked directly with Andersen Windows and Doors products and professionals to develop solutions for “bringing the outdoors in” as part of their capstone projects.
What started as a part-time job for Juan Andrés Rujana (BS ‘20, Product Design) turned into an opportunity to grow, experiment, and make an impact supporting refugees as Epimonía’s design director. Juan Rujana talks about his work with Epimonía, a refugee-founded fashion label, and how his experiences in the Product Design program have impacted his career thus far in our latest alumni spotlight.
Searching for jobs and making early career decisions can be tough to navigate on your own. For 28 years, College of Design juniors, seniors, and graduate students have been matched with mentors in their field of study to help bridge the gap between academia and industry through the college’s award-winning mentorship program.
Driven by the acute need for N95 masks in hospitals, faculty from the University of Minnesota’s College of Design, College of Science of Engineering, and medical school worked together to create two face mask designs that could be assembled using available materials.
The scarcity of N95 masks has occupied headlines and the minds of the public since the outbreak of COVID-19—hoarders of the masks have been busted, stockpiles have been donated, and several alternatives have been developed.
Ten years since it launched and one name change later, Toy Product Design (now Product Innovation Lab or iLab) remains one of product design's most popular courses.
It’s one thing to design a product, it’s quite another to design an entire experience. Product design students were challenged to design an immersive, brand experience pop-up shop for one of two unfamiliar user groups: Baby Boomers and Generation X.
After two years of pursuing a degree in engineering, Ben Leibham (B.S. ’18, Product Design) knew that something was missing. In search of a field that would combine his interests in art, engineering, and business, Ben spoke with an industrial designer who encouraged him to pursue a degree in product design.
In May 2018, the College of Design’s Product Design Program graduated its inaugural class of undergraduate students.
You’re invited to the College of Design’s 2019 final reviews! Join students, faculty, and staff at final presentations from across our design programs and see first-hand the fantastic work our students have produced this year.
From ideation and prototyping to manufacturing and marketing, product design students learned the ins and outs of the product life cycle during a winter break trip to Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China.
An interdisciplinary partnership between College of Design faculty, the Goldstein Museum of Design (GMD), and Episcopal Homes Senior Housing and Care Services is developing virtual reality (VR) technology to expand access to exhibitions and other public events for low-income elder residents through the creation of a “VR Book Club.”
On Friday, May 11 the inaugural class of product design seniors will present their capstone projects. This first class of students is the result of seven years of hard work by College of Design faculty and staff, in particular, Associate Professor Barry Kudrowitz who is head of the Product Design program. Kudrowitz reflects on the journey the program has taken in this interview.
Now in its seventh year at the University of Minnesota, the College of Design’s Toy Product Design class is known for its playful atmosphere and rigorous pace.
