Stanford University gets $16 million for design research

On August 19th, Stanford University and the Hasso-Plattner-Institute announced a $16 million research partnership lasting 8 years and beginning this month. This news from Core77.

This is particularly relevant to me as I am days away from starting a graduate degree at Stanford University for an MS Engineering in Product Design. Stanford’s allocation of fiscal, academic, and spatial resources to design is apparent. Even as I walk around campus, I’m seeing construction for a 42,000 square foot center for Design to open next fall! The Joint Program in Design has in some ways defined the qualities of design thinking. The relatively new d.school has been bringing together minds from across the academic spectrum to solve real and pressing issues by way of design thinking. Furthermore, the Center for Design Research is providing an academic basis for understand engineering and design innovation. This intense collaborative approach and immediate real-life applications drew me to the graduate program and I’m so glad to be able to take part! I’m excited to see how the Stanford/Hasso Plattner research program will take form.