BITS Pilani makes a foray into design education, launches BITS Design School in Mumbai
In collaborations with Aalto University, Finland, ranked 6 in the world for art & design by QS, and the School of Design, RMIT, Melbourne, BITS Design School (BITSDES) is launched as a future-focused design institute which will combine Creative arts with Technology, Business, and Entrepreneurship.
BITS Design School will introduce a four-year, residential, Bachelor of Design (Honours) programme in the academic year 2024-25, followed by a Master’s Degree programme and a Faculty Development programme for Design Educators over the next two years.
In the second year of the programme, students can choose from the five streams offered for specialisation – Physical Product Design, Digital Product Design (UI/UX), Human Centred Design, Experience Design, and Visual Design.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chancellor, BITS Pilani said, “Design is increasingly pivotal in addressing the complexities of the new age. From manufacturing to services, and retail to technology, design is shaping the future of how businesses approach problem-solving and innovation.
“BITS Design School will reimagine design education with a bold, trans-disciplinary, competency based approach, and embrace avenues where design can positively impact people, businesses, and the world.
And in the process, we will nurture a new generation of leaders who will use design to create value and solve problems for a better world”, adds Birla.
With a robust international intervention, BITSDES engaged advisors, doyens from the world of design—Don Norman, founding director of the Design Lab and author of the bestselling “Design of Everyday Things”, Sandy Speicher, former CEO of IDEO, headquartered at San Francisco, Biju Dominic, chief evangelist at New York and Mumbai based Fractal and CEO, FinalMile Consulting, and John Thackara, author, professor, and curator of The Doors of Perception – the celebrated design conference in the Netherlands.
BITSDES faculty is signing up to participate in the training and mentorship connected to the Teaching & Learning Studio at the Hasso Plattner School of Design at Stanford University.
Leveraging more 1,80,000+ BITS Pilani Alumni Network spanning 55 Countries, the institute will facilitate students’ preparedness, exposure, and access to leading Design firms, corporations, banks, NGOs, and research organizations.
Admissions have already opened on 26 Feb 2024 for the founding class who will be taught by international visiting faculty and a marquee Indian faculty trained at the top Design schools in the world.
While the permanent campus will be operational in early 2025, BITS Design School will commence its first academic session in August 2024 out of the interim campus in Powai, Mumbai.
Follow us on