RPI
RPI’s Programs in Design and Innovation (PDI) offers RPI students an opportunity to create dual degree programs typically built around an engineering degree and our social-sciences based Design, Innovation and Society (DIS) degree program. Going beyond a typical industrial engineering or product design program, we have created a program structure that introduces students to an array of social-sciences inspired skill-sets ranging from ethnography, cultural critique, problem formulation, social and environmental impact assessment, and stakeholder analysis. Through an integrated sequence of six design studios, plus a capstone design experience, PDI takes an integrated approach for students to develop aesthetic sensibilities, design identities, a sense of normative engagement, and strong identification with their student cohort.
During this year’s Symposium, we would like to organize a hands-on workshop on making and re-making specific aspects of any design-based degree program, course, or experience that integrates engineering and liberal arts perspectives. Whether or not you are currently in the process of creating or revising such a course or program, we invite you to join us in a collective design and redesign effort.
We will do so through two sessions (45 minutes each) with breakout groups devoted to some or all of following tentatively proposed topics:
Session 1
• A Focus on Normative Engagement
• Engineering Design Processes and Their Critical Deconstruction
• Design * Theory
Session 2
• Reflections on Design Identities
• Building Mentors Into the Program/Classroom
• A Perspective on Users
Reporting Out
• Some time to report out & reflect on the experience
We also invite anyone who is actively involved in this kind of work to also join us in preparing for the workshop. (If you are interested in joining us in the workshop planning, please email Atsushi Akera @ akeraa@rpi.edu)