Multi-disciplinary design network

Multi-disciplinary education, inlcuding designers learning and working alongside MBAs, engineers and others, was highlighted by Sir George Cox as being a key way to support innovation in the UK. The Multi-Disciplinary Design Network was formed to explore and enable multi-disciplinary education and professional practice.

The missing d: The value of design to STEM education

Members of the Multi-Disciplinary Design Network discuss the value of design to innovation education in schools and universities.

You can watch these films at full scale, read a transcript of what's said and find out more about the event.

      
Read a transcript of these films

We need business people who understand creativity, who know when and how to use the specialist, and who can manage innovation; creative specialists who understand the environment in which their talents will be used and who can talk the same language as their clients and business colleagues; and engineers and technologists who understand the design process and can talk the language of the business Sir George Cox, The Cox Review of Creativity in Business

The Cox Review recommended the establishment of centres excellence of multi-disciplinary education, called Cox Centres. Below you can read case studies of eight Cox Centres that have been established since 2006.

You can also read reports of visits to international examples of multi-disciplinary design teaching and practice in Asia, America and Europe.

The Network is supported by HEFCE and NESTA and aims to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practice across universities to improve curriculum design and assess the impact of these new programmes.

 

MD network final report front cover

Final report

Report and recommendations from the Multi-Disciplinary Design Network. Find out more and download a PDF

MD network discussion map

Close out event

In November 2010, members of the Multi-Disciplinary Design Network met to discuss "The missing d: The value of design to STEM and business education." Find out more about the discussions

Multi-disciplinary design education case studies

We've interviewed eight universities, each of which has taken a slightly different approach to multi-disciplinary design education.

Students at Design London

Design London

Design London builds on a heritage of cross-institutional collaboration to provide design-led modules for MBA students, designers and engineers, with a focus on business incubation.

C4D

C4D

A partnership between Cranfield University and the London College of Communication, University of Arts London, the Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D) offers taught Masters courses and runs a research programme as well as services to industry.

University of Nottingham multi-disciplinary unit

University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham Institute for Enterprise and Innovation (UNIEI) offers undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, research and practical support for staff and student enterprise as well as local business engagement.

Northumbria university multi-disciplinary students

Northumbria

Northumbria University offers a Masters in Multi-disciplinary Design Innovation, run by the School of Design in collaboration with Newcastle Business School and the School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences.

Students at Kingston University

Kingston

Postgraduate students from Kingston University’s multi-disciplinary ‘creative economies’ Masters courses are at the heart of its Inoversity project, which is a longitudinal study on multi-disciplinary team-working and aims to transfer research knowledge into the teaching of Kingston’s multi-disciplinary courses.

Nottingham Trent multidisciplinary students

Nottingham Trent

Originally a pathway open to students on the MA in Product Design, the Multi-disciplinary Masters programme at Nottingham Trent University has developed into a scheme open to students from five NTU schools: Art and Design; Architecture, Design and the Built Environment; Business, Science and Technology; and Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences.

Lancaster University students

Lancaster University

ImaginationLancaster is a creative research lab at Lancaster University, which offers multi-disciplinary MA and MRes design courses, design-led PhD research and a combined undergraduate degree in Marketing and Design in conjunction with Lancaster University’s Management School.

University College Falmouth students

Falmouth

University College Falmouth will formally launch its Academy of Innovation and Research (AIR) in 2011, a £9million investment which will operate as a multi-disciplinary research and development laboratory and as a creative facilitation space

Lessons from Asia front cover

Lessons from Asia

Report on the Design Council/HEFCE fact-finding visit to Beijing, China, and in Seoul and Daejeon, South Korea. April 2010. Find out more about it and download a PDF

 

Lessons from Europe

Report on the Design Council/HEFCE fact-finding visit to The Netherlands, Denmark and Finland. 5-10 September 2007. Find out more about it and download a PDF

Lessons from America front cover

Lessons from America

Report on the Design Council / HEFCE fact-finding visit to the United States. September 2006. Find out more about it and download a PDF

Cox Review front cover

The Cox Review

The Cox Review of Creativity in Business: building on the UK's strengths was published on the 2 December 2006. Download a PDF from The Treasury website

Podcast

Are design schools the new business schools?

 

At Intersections 07 Jeremy Myerson, from the RCA, Janet Abrams, from the University of Minnesota Design Institute, John Bates, London Business School and Christoph Böninger, formerly of Siemens discussed whether designers can really go head-to-head with the MBAs and whether students would be better equipped for the business world if they were design trained?

 

Listen to the podcast of read the transcript

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