Industrial Design
![Three people test VR headset for NASA outside.](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/landscape_10_4_250x100/public/2022-12/9A3B7AD3-D502-4540-B3D1-9F962176515D_1_105_c_0.jpeg?h=403ad41c&itok=g-b9CPhl)
Drawing on its contribution to responsible, human-centered design, Industrial Design (or ID) teaches you to use critical thinking and the design process to enhance companies, communities and citizens. Expert faculty guide you in researching user experiences to create well-conceived and executed objects, products and systems that make everyday tasks easier.
Degree programs
![Two Industrial Design students prototyping with pink pool noodles.](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/landscape_16_9_349x196/public/2022-11/_56A0104.jpg?h=f2fcf546&itok=0nP9kMkD)
Through an emphasis on informed research and hands-on making, the Industrial Design BFA program puts you in position to design effective solutions for a wide range of problems.
![ID student measuring wood.](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/landscape_16_9_349x196/public/2022-12/20170500%20RISD%20Adm%20%20473_P1%20copy.jpg?h=6f8e8448&itok=XTQ87mC_)
Approaching industrial design as a vehicle for addressing social, cultural, environmental and other issues, the MID program teaches the skills and advanced understanding you need to practice design for the greater good.
In the studio
In responding to assigned projects, ID majors work with a wide range of materials in the process of designing objects, products, systems and experiences. In ID you develop ideas through sketching and drawing before moving on to models and working prototypes.
![a closeup of components for an Industrial Design project](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_device_components.jpg?itok=1gLDNW65)
![an Industrial Design student wears a wired device over his head](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_student_wearing_wired_device.jpg?itok=dwWzRiS6)
![sawdust on the floor of the Industrial Design shop](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_sawdust.jpg?itok=jbARGANx)
Student work
![student work by Industrial Design alum Kalil Grinberg](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_kalil_grinberg_bfa_2018.jpg?itok=L_DiuLjI)
Kalil Grinberg BFA 2018
![student work by Industrial Design graduate alum Adi Azulay](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_adi_azulay_mid_2017.jpg?itok=EvvF3Q2l)
Adi Azulay MID 2017
![student work by Industrial Design graduate alum Atulya Chaganty](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_atulya_chaganty_mid_2017.jpg?itok=9d1KyUVS)
Atulya Chaganty MID 2017
![student work by Industrial Design alum Karen Jiang](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_karen_jiang_bfa_2019.jpg?itok=RKqc8Px_)
Karen Jiang BFA 2019
![a bike made by Industrial Design alums Kalil Grinberg and Caspar Nagel](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_kalil_grinberg_bfa_2018_and_caspar_nagel_bfa_2018.jpg?itok=EMGnAhrY)
Kalil Grinberg BFA 2018 and Caspar Nagel BFA 2018
![packaging made with organic materials by Industrial Design alum Lizzie Wright](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_lizzie_wright_bfa_2018.png?itok=5iDevG5P)
Lizzie Wright BFA 2018
![an outdoor product made by Industrial Design alum Fiona Stolorz](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_fiona_stolorz_bfa_2018.jpg?itok=WsXT3E9H)
Fiona Stolorz BFA 2018
![vessels made by Industrial Design alum Christina Strachoff](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_christina_strachoff_bfa_2018.jpg?itok=uj_DF_-h)
Christina Strachoff BFA 2018
![sewing machine prototypes by Industrial Design alum Quincy Kuang](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_quincy_kuang_bfa_2019.jpg?itok=khwhclps)
Quincy Kuang BFA 2019
![a prototype sports glove by Industrial Design alum Daniel Woolhiser](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_daniel_woolhiser_bfa_2018.jpg?itok=Q9yG1n71)
Daniel Woolhiser BFA 2018
![a chess set made by Industrial Design alum Louis Selby](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_louis_selby_bfa_2020.png?itok=Sfda_cMj)
Louis Selby BFA 2020
![student work by Industrial Design graduate alum Aaron Simmons](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_aaron_simmons_mid_2018.jpg?itok=jlctDI_4)
Aaron Simmons MID 2018
![a chair made by Industrial Design alum Aki Barber](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/original_max_width_250/public/2021-02/industrial_design_stuent_work_aki_barber_bfa_2018.jpg?itok=VlAa5VEz)
Aki Barber BFA 2018
Alumni
ID alumni go on to make a real difference through design, offering innovative solutions to many problems. They start their own businesses, join cutting-edge studios and work for organizations and corporations, creating medical devices, household products, alternative transportation vehicles, nanotech devices, new materials and much more…
![an image of Soaib Grewall's nonprofit WaterWalla's impact in India](/sites/g/files/upbtqy111/files/styles/landscape_16_9_349x196/public/2021-02/unnamed-3_3.jpg?h=7a3e2357&itok=bJLXdB9U)
“More than a billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water,” says Grewall, who worked with several Brown students to launch a nonprofit effort known as WaterWalla. Their mission? To bring clean water to India's slums. Grewall relocated to India right after graduation to head WaterWalla's Mumbai office and is now making great headway in tackling this chronic public-health issue.
Featured stories
Launched in 2021 by His Majesty King Charles III and Sir Jony Ive, the competition seeks to drive environmental progress through private-sector innovation.
The Rhode Island School of Design uses recipes to teach the trial-and-error process of tweaking and refining a product.
Students are building a traditional boat out of wood and investigating the material’s environmental, ecological and sociocultural impacts.