MS in Industrial Design
At a Glance
Ranked 7th in the U.S. and 4th in the East by DesignIntelligence, the MS in Industrial Design is a professional program based on interdisciplinary project work. In this program, you will learn to design effectively at the collaborative and chaotic “front end” of the product-development process. You will work with product users, researchers, businesspeople, engineers and manufacturers to create products and systems that are better at serving their users, societies and the world at large.
We like busy people, because busy people are ambitious, curious people. Many of our courses are taught in the afternoon and evening, to allow flexible scheduling for students who have outside obligations.
Our Four Areas of Focus
- Informing design through creative research into user needs.
- Working closely with business, engineering and other disciplines to design platforms and systems- not just isolated objects.
- Designing intelligent products for the "internet of things," integrating hardware, software and electronic interactivity.
- Understanding and designing for global societies.
Our students are smart, curious and diverse, with undergraduate backgrounds as disparate as economics, philosophy, technology education, mechanical engineering and architecture, as well as some with undergraduate ID degrees. International students are warmly welcomed.
The MS in Industrial Design will prepare you for entrepreneurial work in the field, or for a position in a corporate design department or design consulting firm.
If you’re currently working in design, this program can help you move from tactics to strategy, going from working on problems you’re given, to finding untapped new opportunities and new clients.
MS in Industrial Design Program Now STEM Eligible
STEM eligibility allows international students on an F-1 student status to apply for an additional two years of work authorization after an initial 12-month period of Post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the United States if they meet the required criteria.
For more information about OPT and F-1 student status, please visit Jefferson Office of International Services website.
Collaboration & Partnerships
Our MSID program is different from studying ID in an isolated art or design school. The University's medical, engineering, architecture, sustainability and business programs work with us to take on real-world problems with an understanding of how to serve people better.
MSID students have worked with the following nonprofits and corporations:
- Verizon
- Aalto University, Helsinki
- Vaisala Instruments
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Philips Medical
- Konecranes
- Midwives for Haiti
- Nathan Sports
- Johnson & Johnson
- Philadelphia Science Leadership Academy and Franklin Institute
- Dunmore Corporation (polymer films)
- Construction Specialties Inc.
- Comcast
- Unifi Manufacturing
- Federal-Mogul Systems Protection
If you represent a company with an interesting problem, we'd love to hear from you...