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Industrial and Interaction Design (B.I.D.)

School of Design

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  • Industrial and Interaction Design (B.I.D.)

The industrial and interaction design (IID) program prepares you to embrace the complex challenges of creating innovative products, systems, and services in the 21st century. You develop skills and learn to address contemporary problems through creative and critical thinking guided by leading scholars and design practitioners.

Admission + Portfolio Requirements

Visit Opportunities

Studio courses introduce you to diverse areas of practice within industrial and interaction design today. Through project-based learning (PBL), you experience industry-standard tools, processes, and methods. You explore emerging technologies and apply best practices to create design solutions that respond to the needs of people and planet.

You enhance your IID studies with a range of elective studio and academic courses and minors from across Syracuse University. In spring of your fourth year, you may apply to live and study in London or Florence with Syracuse Abroad. Through the University’s Blackstone LaunchPad, you gain entrepreneurial skills and partner with students in other disciplines to develop, pitch, and launch your own seed-funded startup companies. You may also wish to engage in Intelligence ++, an innovative, interdisciplinary initiative at the University focused on inclusive entrepreneurship, design, and community.

The IID program, which leads to a bachelor of industrial design (B.I.D.) degree, culminates in a year-long independent thesis project and exhibition. You emerge from the program ready to address contemporary global concerns and assume product design, user experience design, design research, and product development roles at world-leading enterprises and consultancies.

Examples of jobs recent graduates have moved into include:

  • Product design for accessories, sporting goods, home appliances, and manufacturing tools
  • User experience design for mobile applications, online retail services, semi-autonomous vehicles, unmanned aircraft, and medical equipment
  • User research for financial services, healthcare, and education

IID alumni are currently making an impact on design teams at companies like Ford, Amazon, Reebok, Google, IBM Design, Fjord/Accenture, IDEO, Frog Design, and Continuum Innovation.

Student Work

Celia Boltansky '20 | CareKit UI
Celia Boltansky ’20 | CareKit UI
Alec Gillinder '20 | EvacMask
Alec Gillinder ’20 | EvacMask
Loren Gutierrez | Future of Airport Security
Loren Gutierrez ’20 | Future of Airport Security
Quinn King '20 | Opt IO
Quinn King ’20 | Opt IO
Dong Hyeok Lee '20 | Accessible Gaming Solutions
Dong Hyeok Lee ’20 | Accessible Gaming Solutions
Jeremy Mail '20 | Communify App
Jeremy Mail ’20 | Communify App
Nicholas Ng '20 | Simote
Nicholas Ng ’20 | Simote
Luke Williams '20 | Trail hero
Luke Williams ’20 | Trail hero
Liv Ranieri '20 | Universal Audio Guide System
Liv Ranieri ’20 | Universal Audio Guide System
Wicky Wu project
Wicky Wu ’19
Chao Huang Project
Chao Huang ’19
Claire Duncan project
Claire Duncan ’19
Rebecca Yeh project
Rebecca Yeh ’19
Baitian Lu project: wall with shelves
Baitian Lu ’19
Harold Chen project: autonomous electric car
Harold Chen ’19 | Autonomous Electric Car
Robyn Adams ’19│Stroodee the Toy 3D Printer

Thesis Research Efforts by Fifth-Year Students

During their fifth year, industrial and interaction design students select a topic for their thesis. Click on any student to learn more about their project.

Caroline Buff
Caroline Buff: Reimagining Airport Spaces
Dan Cohen
Dan Cohen: Nostalgia and the CD Player
Jack Duffy
Jack Duffy: The Future of Food
Lily Ernst
Lily Ernst: Redesigning the Gynecological Experience
Carolyn Fernandes
Carolyn Fernandes: Sustainability and Biodesign
Josh Price
Josh Price: Digital Fabrication Technology and Adaptive Equipment
Marcela Santamaria
Marcela Santamaria: Reducing Waste in the Shoe Development Process
Bennet Ware
Bennett Ware: Environmentally Sustainable Drones

Curriculum

Below are the general program requirements for the B.I.D. degree in industrial and interaction design.

View official major requirements.

Major requirements: 75 credits
First year requirements: 2 credits
Art history requirements: 12 credits
Academic requirements: 6 credits
Academic electives: 12 credits
Studio electives: 12 credits
Free electives: 3 credits
Total Credits: 122

Program Faculty

  • Carmel Nicoletti, Program Coordinator
  • Don Carr
  • Meyer Giordano
  • Denise Heckman
  • Michael Kowalski
  • Yves Michel
  • Ralf Schneider

More

  • 2024 Thesis Showcase
  • 2023 Thesis Showcase
  • 2022 Thesis Showcase
  • 2021 Thesis Showcase
  • 2020 Thesis Showcase
  • 2019 Thesis Showcase
  • Domenic Gallo ’24 reimagines alternative and assistive communications tech
  • Stan Nowak ’99 introduces students to Mars aircraft
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