Design Thinking for Engineering Innovation

Catalog description

This course introduces engineering students to human-centered design approaches for exploring and solving complex problems. Through an individual project, students learn foundational design methods—research, empathy-building, problem framing, ideation, prototyping, and iteration—and build complementary skills in systems thinking, early experimentation, and clearly communicating design decisions. Students will strengthen their creative thinking abilities, practice using visualization and rapid prototyping to test ideas, and reflect on their evolving design process as engineers. By the end of the course, they will have created and tested a prototype and gained an introductory understanding of how design and engineering come together in contemporary innovation practice.