An engineering design degree opens the door to various positions in industry and graduate school. Your experience with client-focused design, prototyping, and professional skills will allow you to contribute to companies in any phase of the design process: identification of stakeholder needs, concept generation, feasibility studies, risk analysis, detail design, manufacturing, testing, validation, maintenance, and product lifecycle analysis.Engineering design is a human-centered endeavor that grew out of investigations of creativity. While design is an integral part of all engineering fields, design methodology gained more attention during the 1980s as global competition demanded higher quality design and system complexity increased. The role of the designer is to create a system, process, product, or service based on stakeholder needs while considering social, environmental, economic, and safety requirements. The designer must have both a mindset and skillset for improving the impact of design on society. The mindset requires the vision and drive necessary to create value. The skillset includes the tools and techniques critical to realize the design.The Engineering Design major prepares students by giving them repeated, intensive design experiences with real clients. From the first quarter to the senior year, students participate in authentic design experiences and practice professional skills. The first year gives students a broad understanding of modeling systems across disciplines and repeated practice in prototyping solutions for clients. Students plan their electives and prepare for their practicum as they continue deeper in the design process. Students are required to gain practical experience in the design process. In their third year, the curriculum is structured to allow study-work abroad, internships, and or cooperative work experiences. In their fourth year, students complete a year-long, multidisciplinary capstone design experience.After completion of this curriculum, students will be prepared to enter the engineering profession or advanced study. A student may also use this academic background as a stepping stone to a position in management, administration, or some other non-engineering field.
