At Simon-Erdős School of Design Sciences, Everything And Every Idea Are Up For Challenge

Entrepreneurial designers, more than anybody else, are expected to create processes for breaking out of their own point of view, and for empathizing with people other than themselves

Simon-Erdős School of Design Sciences (or “DESC”) equip Fellows with sciences and technologies; mathematical and programming skills; and entrepreneurial experiences so that, like designers of technologies, those of us who apply behavioral science to design, affect human intellects, improve users’ experiences, and imagine new possibilities

Design As A Way of Knowing

The path toward design as a craft is already well explored. The future of the craft of a craft has many new areas to be explored and developed

Risks of Ideas and Sciences

Scientists, engineers, designers and artists are entrepreneurs build on engineering culture, bearing most of the risks and enjoying rewards

Working In Creative Teams

Getting the best person for the task and that the task is the best for the person in the skill is more important than getting the right idea

The better the data, the better the inferences. The better the knowledge representations. The trouble is, this grounds people in the already articulated needs that the data reflects. They see the data through the lens of their own biases. And they don’t recognize needs people have not expressed. Design Sciences takes a different approach: Identify hidden needs by having the innovator live the customer’s experience.

We have had many technologies introduced in classrooms all over the world, but these innovations have provided remarkably little systematic knowledge or accumulated wisdom to guide the development of future capabilities for innovations. What is different today is that some of the great minds in the world are addressing themselves to entrepreneur as experimentalists: their goal is to compare different designs to see what affects what. Technology provides us with powerful tools to try out different designs, so that instead of theories of education, we may begin to develop sciences of knowledge. But it cannot be an analytic science like solid-state physics or psychology; rather it must be design sciences more like aeronautics or artificial intelligence. For example, in aeronautics the goal is to elucidate how different designs contribute to lift, drag, manoeuvrability, etc.. Similarly, design sciences of knowledge must determine how different designs of learning cue to human intellect, cooperation, motivation, etc.

Cue Human Intellect

Our Methods

Our goal then will be to construct a more systematic methodology for conducting design experiments, and ultimately to develop design sciences to guide implementation of future innovations in digital and insight and intelligence technologies. The kind of methodology we anticipate will involve working with faculties as co- investigators to compare multiple innovations (different business and software) at one site with promising vested interest in the outcome

A typical week for a participant taking three courses in each of the first two terms may be as follows:

Lectures – eight hours

Tutorial classes – six hours

Practical – four hours

Self-directed study, including research, problem sheets, preparations – 20 hours

Total – 38 hours

The split of work may differ depending on whether a course has practical associated. This should be taken as a guide only.

Time Frame:

We expect participants to complete the full-time “Fellow” program in four terms (16-20 months), which includes three study terms, one four-month work term and a final study term. However, participants may apply for an eight-month work term with the same employer that would lengthen their program to five terms (20 months).

Final dates are communicated only to selected participants.

Unique Experience

Design Areas for Digital Products, Services and Functions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Design Pillars

Contact Us

Application
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Aids and Fees
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Academic Program
learn more about Junior and Senior Fellow program
Research Thesis
learn more about Guides on Research Thesis program
IP Policy
learn more about DESC IP Policy for academic program
Faculty Positions
learn more about DESC Faculties and industry-researchers
Governance
learn more about DESC leadership and governance