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
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
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.
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