Top Schools in Industrial Design: Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University (Industrial Design)

CMU’s School of Design recently refocused all of its design programs to look at the field through a “design for interaction” lens.

Discipline: Industrial Design
Location: Pittsburgh, USA
Undergraduate: Bachelor of Design
Graduate: Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Arts, Master of Design

Number of students: 215
Number of faculty: 20 full-time (seven devoted just to Industrial Design)

Strengths

A forward-thinking focus on the interactivity of design and its spheres boosted by individualized, challenge-driven learning paths for each student

Overview

CMU’s School of Design recently refocused all of its design programs to look at the field through a “design for interaction” lens. The school sees design as the solution to common problems, and students are charged with setting the scope and timeline of a specific challenge they’d like to surmount. While the school does offer a product design stream, its strengths lie in graphic communications for print and digital. Additionally, School of Design students have access to the university’s top-flight computer science and business faculties, giving graduating designers a solid grounding in technology – hardware, software, interaction and systems – and the business acumen to succeed in the real world.

Notable alumni

Nest Thermostat designer Fred Bould, Dustbuster creator Carroll Gantz