College of Design Research

Research, Engagement & Creative Scholarship

Collage of research projects from 2020

More Research, Engagement, & Creative Scholarship

As part of a top-tier research university, the College of Design prides itself not only on teaching the next generation of designers but on conducting groundbreaking research and sharing our expertise with a wide variety of communities.

The College of Design’s research, engagement, and creative scholarship units include centers, laboratories, museums, consortia, and institutes of regional, national, and international importance. These units focus on providing innovative solutions to design problems, new information to their constituencies, and thought-provoking opportunities for student learning.

Research Centers, Museums, and Labs

College of Design Research Centers

The College of Design houses a number of research centers, both departmental and collegiate. Its faculty and researchers also partner with other centers housed within the University of Minnesota.

Centers focus on a wide breadth of research and work with community members to help solve societal challenges. Centers also have numerous research affiliates and fellows, some of whom may work in other University departments and some who work outside of the University.

Research Centers
Center for Sustainable Building Research Collegiate Center
Digital Design Center Collegiate Center
Minnesota Design Center Collegiate Center
Center for Retail Design & Innovation Departmental Center
Center for Changing Landscapes Partner Research Center
College of Design Research Labs

Research labs at the College of Design focus on a wide breadth of research and provide opportunities for experimentation, testing, observation, development, and practice.

Labs housed within the college include the Human Dimensioning Lab and the Wearable Technology Lab.

Research Labs
Human Dimensioning Lab Departmental Lab
Wearable Technology Lab Departmental Lab
Goldstein Museum of Design

The Goldstein Museum of Design (GMD) is an academic teaching museum housed within the college. Dedicated to sharing the value of design through its 34,000+ multidisciplinary objects GMD is committed to advancing learning for students as well as the greater community and is the only design museum in the Upper Midwest.

Goldstein Museum of Design
Visit the GMD
Explore the Collection
College of Design Consortia

The College of Design currently has one active consortium, the Consortium for Research Practices. Composed of Twin Cities architecture firms, the consortium works to close the knowledge gap between academia and practice by providing paid research-practice internships to students within the Master of Science in Architecture Research Practices (MS-RP) track.

Two people looking at WTL student research
Student Research Spotlight

Congratulations to the recipients of the $1,500 College of Design Collaborative Research Grants:

 

  • Study on homeownership in American suburbs using graphic representation and GIS mapping: Mary Begley (Architecture) and Sonali Devarajan (Landscape Architecture)
  • Research on food waste at the Minnesota State Fair using story maps and ARCGIS: SunMin (May) Hwang (Human Factors & Ergonomics) and Hoa Vo (Interior Design)
Meet Our Faculty

Situated within a top-tier, land grant research university our faculty are on the cutting edge of the design fields.

Faculty & Researchers
Product design faculty and student discussing materials