Integrated Product Design Master's Program provides the skills to rethink, reinterpret, redesign and reconstruct a wide range of products and their complementary business models. The program draws on the strengths of three internationally recognized schools within the University: the School of Engineering & Applied Science, The Wharton School, and the School of Design.
Program Highlights: The program is designed to cultivate professionals that possess both a breadth of knowledge and a depth of expertise in a specialty, in order to effectively bridge the domains of technology, manufacturing, business, aesthetics, and human-product interaction.
The graduate courses that make up the program adopt an interdisciplinary point of view, and are taught by professors from all three schools. Collaborative team projects and student-driven independent projects complement the core courses to give students both a solid grasp of the fundamentals and a deep understanding of the nuances of these fields.
The guiding philosophy of the program is not only to teach students to create products, but to understand and address the social, environmental and experiential contexts of those products, so that product design can be harnessed as a force for the greater good.
Integrated Product Design MSE Curriculum
A Master of Science in Engineering degree in Integrated Product Design requires ten courses, including the master's thesis. Students who do not have the requisite background in the three core areas, Engineering, Design Arts and Marketing and Finance, may be required to enroll in additional background courses.
Prior to matriculation, students must have completed an undergraduate degree in one of the three areas: business, design arts, or engineering from a recognized program and obtained a minimum grade point average of 3.0 out of 4.0.
Courses Include:
- Creativity in Engineering & ID
- Product Design
- Design of Mechatronic Systems
- Design for Manufacturability
- Industrial Design
- Furniture Design
- Marketing Research
- Applied Probability Models in Marketing
- Operations Strategy and Process Management
- Master’s Thesis (see below)
Master's Design Thesis
The Master’s Design Thesis is a 3 CU research and studio project, expected to be achieved in 3 semesters. The project is an opportunity to manifest a synthesis of art, technology and business strategy, and to push the envelope of design possibility in the context of user need and market forces. The project will involve the development of a product from concept, user need, marketing analysis, design implementation to prototype and feasibility testing. The thesis project is supervised by a faculty member in SEAS, Wharton, or Design, or an external sponsor with approval by the program Director.
