Industrial Design, Product design

@colorado_mom - they are engineering classes where they use CAD and build things. One concern I have is that he hasn’t taken physics, his Mom(my sister) tells me this is not unusual at his HS. I know he is in Calculus now.
Thank you all for the great information. I’ve shared a lot of it with them.
I think like so many students he has to decide what is most important to him in a school. Program or location. Long Beach State or San Jose would be good options for many reasons but I know when he thinks about going off to college it isn’t to a place like Long Beach or San Jose.

That is a valid concern. All students heading into engineering (or Industrial Design) need at least one hs physics class. Hopefully he has it on his schedule for senior year. Many also take AP (or IB) physics.

I am an engineer, and frankly I can’t picture student considering engineering w/o having studied physics. It’s fantastic that he is taking Calc because it is the foundation to much of engineering academics. The "engineering classes " where they use CAD and build things are interesting too, but they do little. to prepare a student for the intense rigors of college engineering academics.

@Googie31 is your daughter deaf? Just curious because my son is deaf. I am wondering about the designs for deaf community she is thinking about. Intriguing!

@LBowie While DD doesn’t always listen, she is not deaf. There is a lot of interaction between NTID and RIT students. Her boyfriend is hard-of-hearing which is probably the impetus for her current involvement. She is taking ASL and is thinking about minoring ASL and Deaf Culture. Currently, she is note-taker for her art history class.

She has many diverse interests and I also wonder where she will end up. For example, she also is very talented in special effects make-up (she’s done some amazing zombie makeup) and is currently taking a course in prosthetics which she adores. It seems like she is getting counsel at RIT so am trying my best to let her explore without getting stressed.

(Sorry for veering of course here…) Your daughter sounds like a cool kid. Sounds like the sort of person my son would be friends with!

I’m glad she likes RIT. It is a unique school. My son did not consider it because it did not offer a Geology major. Of course he changed his major on day 1 to Physics…is very happy where he is. He is deaf not Deaf. Hears with CIs and talks. He did join the ASL club on campus recently.

She calls herself a cool nerd. She was very excited to go to RIT as she thought it would be filled with nerdy, engineer guys. Her hero is Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.

Where is your son?

I hope I did not offend in my previous post. I did not realize there was a difference between d and D “deaf”.

http://cola.siu.edu/artanddesign/undergraduate/specializations/industrial-design.php

https://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/vpa/ad/industrial/

http://www.philau.edu/inddesign/

@Googie31 my son is a cool nerd too! Lately he is obsessed with yo-yos. He goes to Skidmore. None of his classes there have huge enrollments (top out at about 24), so hearing does not seem to be an issue in class. No, you did not offend at all! Deaf with a capital D means being part of Deaf culture and using ASL. But deaf means just that you can’t hear. You can be deaf and Deaf (or hearing but part of Deaf culture if you grew up in it for example). You can also be deaf and part of mainstream culture as my son is. I am sure your daughter can explain the subtleties better since she is at RIT.

We have a neighbor in the SJSU program who seems to love it for what that’s worth. Believe instate for you so worth a look. Good luck.

@mom60 If coming to the East Coast is a consideration then I second the recommendation of Philadelphia University by @zobroward.

My son is interested in (Graphic) Design with a technology focus rather than an art focus. Someone told us about this school (2 hours from where we live) which we had never heard of. It is a smaller school in a suburban residential area next to a beautiful river park system and is just a 20 minute bus/train ride to downtown Philadelphia. We visited it and were blown away by the program. What we liked about it was that instead of loading students up with boring lectures, PhilaU takes a hands-on approach by creating teams of students from multiple disciplines to work on real world projects. They call this Nexus Learning and their Design and Engineering programs are tightly integrated and both are in the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce. It seemed that their students would be fully prepared to find a job (and excel at it) right out of school.

PhilaU’s acceptance rate is 64% but don’t interpret that as a negative reflection of the quality of the programs there. They are in an area full of similar LACs and have to contend with a low yield rate of 20%. High Stats students may be invited into the Honors Program which includes perks such as residency in one of the best dorms on campus. They offer merit scholarships and during our Open House tour said that anyone who submitted a FAFSA would automatically get $1000, even if they did not qualify for need-based financial aid. Admission is on a rolling basis with about a 3 week turnaround for decisions. BTW - a portfolio review is not required and the degree is a BS rather than a BA which were both important factors for my son.

See additional info at http://www.philau.edu/inddesign/ and https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/philadelphia-university-3354

I want to echo – U Cincinnati DAAP – https://daap.uc.edu/academics/design/bs_industrial.html

Also was going to mention the RIT schools that includes a program for hearing impaired.

Also wanted to mention the Wisconsin program at Stout for packaging. It’s pretty famous for that program
http://www.uwstout.edu/programs/bsp/

@lbowie Thank you for the explanation. I am sure DD understands the nuances.
I am familiar with Skidmore. I grew up upstate and we used to go to Saratoga quite often. It’s a beautiful campus. The daughter of a friend is there now and seems quite happy.

If you look around the University of Cincinnati forum, someone posted a link to a website highlighting the DAAP (design, architecture, art, and planning) students’ work. It does seem like 9 out of 10 posts to the UC forum are about the DAAP program. Very well thought of. Admissions are very competitive. Here’s the link.

https://www.behance.net/search?content=projects&sort=appreciations&time=week&schools=4787

I just found this thread. My HS Junior son is more interested in the design end, but some engineering as well. Industrial Design sounds interesting to him, but also a “B” to “B+” student. Any good recommendations on the east coast?

@rofiorillo: Industrial design is more art than engineering.
Look in to RIT or FIT
Packaging science/engineering is a mix of design, engineering, science, marketing, supply chain, and business.
RIT has that too as well as Rutgers.

For someone with his GPA, they may be good fits.

It’s evidently hard to change majors at RIT, though.

Keene State College offers a major in Sustainable Product Design and Innovation, which includes “engineering tech,” design, and management.

@rofiorillo See my Post #29. Philadelphia Universty has a Design Department that is tightly integrated with their Engineering program so a student would be able to choose the right blend. They apply a very innovative approach to teaching which I felt would give their graduates an edge in finding jobs. Their president has industry as well as academic background. His impressive bio is at http://www.philau.edu/president/bio.html

I don’t think your son would have a difficult time getting in there. They also give generous merit scholarships based on SAT or ACT scores.

Another consideration is Western Washington University (Bellingham which is north of Seattle): The Engineering & Design Department, in the College of Science and Engineering, offers students five Bachelor of Science degrees: Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Plastics & Composites Engineering, Industrial Design, and Industrial Technology-Vehicle Design. These programs place an emphasis on practical laboratory experiences, in addition to theoretical course work. Each program’s curriculum is designed with input from strong industrial advisory committees to prepare students for professional positions in industry.

University of Illinois at Chicago has an Industrial Design program. At UIC, one can also minor in engineering. I would think that being in a metropolitan city like Chicago would provide a lot of inspiration for a design student. UIC is also easier to get into than UIUC.

My younger is interested in design, but I wonder if there are jobs in the field. Does anyone have an idea about the job prospects?