Targets early-to mid-career professionals; inaugural class begins in August 2015

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan 30, 2015—MIT Sloan School of Management together with the MIT School of Engineering have launched a new Master's track geared toward students who plan to pursue careers at the intersection of business, engineering, and design.

The Integrated Design & Management (IDM) track, which resides within the MIT System Design and Management (SDM) program, targets early- to mid-career professionals. Graduates will receive a master’s in engineering and management from MIT. The first cohort of 20 students will begin classes in August 2015.

The backgrounds of IDM’s student body and faculty will be composed of equal parts engineering, business, and design professionals, according to Matthew S. Kressy, the program’s director. “This is critical to achieving balance—through exposure to these different fields, students learn to incorporate the power of the other disciplines into their perspectives,” he says.

“This integrated approach has repeatedly been shown to inspire new business paradigms, compelling products, and the creative courage to solve complex, hard-to-define problems.”

IDM’s core curriculum will be taught in the Integrated Design Lab (ID Lab), a design studio environment complete with state-of-the-art tools like 3D printers and robotic arms. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students will practice the human-centered design process on a range of projects. These include: designing and manufacturing beautiful products, creating compelling online customer experiences, and coming up with remedies for societal issues in inner city Boston.

“We’re cultivating an action-based learning environment—where empathy is generated, trial and error is encouraged, failure is celebrated, and the potential for success is realized,” says Kressy.

Throughout the two-year program, students will intern with top innovation companies, work on design-related consulting projects for firms, and have opportunities to solve real-world societal problems in local municipalities.

Applicants to IDM must be able to demonstrate expertise in design, engineering, or management, as well as a commitment to combining the best practices of these in an immersive, collaborative setting. All applicants are required to submit a portfolio of their work.

“We want people who are driven, disruptive, and entrepreneurial,” says Kressy. “We want people who are risk takers, independent thinkers and who aren’t afraid to question authority. We are now accepting applications for an inaugural cohort for a new way of teaching and learning at MIT that I believe will produce visionary, business, design and societal leaders.”

Contacts:
Paul Denning
MIT Sloan School of Management
617-253-0576
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