About the school

Design

Educational Philosophy

The department of design is situated within a university defined by engineering excellence, and within the cross-disciplinary hub formed by the school of design. We focus on both engineering design and art design. We offer educators and students a global, cross-disciplinary platform for work and research. Our goal is to prepare multi-talented professionals for a new era of design.

Characteristics

Our department serves to promote innovative design education and practice by our students and faculty. In a nutshell, our students and faculty are the sort of people eager to produce major and innovative engineering projects. They play leading roles in high-caliber design research and practice.

At the same time, we continually strive to deepen and strengthen particular and unique aspects of education in the arts as part of our overall mission.

Teaching Philosophy

Our goal is to equip students with multiple skill sets. We strive to instill a forward looking and practical outlook amongst them. Towards these ends, we focus on education in multiple areas supported by an expansive platform for design research and practice. We are dedicated to constantly improving our educational environment. To do this we continuously seek to improve our teaching standards.

Our focus is teaching. In effect, our department provides a system for training talented people with cross-platform abilities. We aim to continuously strengthen our teaching environment, to strengthen our management of teaching standards, to promote research in pedagogy, and to promote participation in important design competitions.

Our Research Philosophy

Our central areas of research are intelligent design, information and interactive design, and sustainable ecological design. We also seek to spread and develop the theory of general design and of interdisciplinary design. This includes research into relevant design methodology and tools.

Our goal is to be a paramount source of design knowledge. We also aspire to further our excellent record of research into traditional design. Our research focus covers six general areas:

1) Product design and interactive design.

2) Visual communication and digital media arts.

3) Design strategies and management

4) Public art and design

5) Industrial design and intelligent design

6) The history and theory of design

Tracks for Undergraduate Education

1. The Industrial Design Track

Education consists of cross-disciplinary studies and research into design and technology. Our goal is to promote an innovative approach to engineering within a creative design environment. Our students are encouraged to look at projects with an eye towards innovation.

2. Visual Communication Track

In this track, students develop a strong foundation in brand design and brand dissemination. We equip students with the ability to integrate designs across platforms in the context of a creative design environment. In the process, students improve their ability to express concepts in multiple mediums.

3. Public Art and Placemaking Track

This track focuses on the design of public space. Students in the program aspire to improve physical space while being informed and grounded in cultural studies and urban sociology. The brings together human, environmental, ecological, technological and commercial fields.

Structure of Higher Degree Studies

The department centers around three main research areas—the method and theory of smart design, information and interactive design, and energy-saving and sustainable design.

Educational Principles for Higher Degree Studies

Our masters program accepts high-calibre applicants who have advanced professional experience, high-level intellectual backgrounds, as well as sound practical abilities. Those best suited for the program have a strong understanding of relevant academic theory, a record of producing useful works of design and art, as well as strong innovative achievements and abilities.

We emphasize the integration of design education, technological science, management education, arts and humanities, and social science research. We use modern design thinking, methods, and theory as the core of our program. Our students aspire to incorporate contributions from designers, society, technology and other core areas into their work.

Areas of focus for masters students in the academic track include design history and theory， design strategy and management, brand design and interactive design, visual communication and digital media arts, public art, and landscape design.

Areas of focus for masters students in the professional track include visual communications and digital media arts, public art, and landscape design.