B.I.D. in Industrial Design

The core elements of industrial design education at METU Department of Industrial Design are the design studio courses and the open jury system. Taking 12 hours per week each semester, design studio courses aim to deliver professional education via hands-on practice. These are conducted in the four design studios, one for each year of studio education, where every student has their own workspace. Each semester students are expected to carry out a number of design projects, increasing in complexity as students progress through the program. Each project is concluded in an open jury where completed projects are evaluated by a jury composed of department members and professionals from the industry. 

For up to date curriculum information: https://catalog.metu.edu.tr/program.php?fac_prog=125

First Year

The first year is dedicated to Basic Design, where students are introduced to the basic concepts of design, visual thinking, the nature of different materials and structural principles.

Second Year

The second year Industrial Design studios are concerned with issues of innovation, styling, redesign and human-product interaction. Design projects at this stage focus on the functional requirements of products, while introducing systematic thinking and scenario building.

Third Year

The third year Industrial Design studios regularly collaborate with industry partners, communities and civil society organizations for projects that foreground sustainability criteria and participatory practices. Developing an individual design approach, style and context-awareness are educational objectives at this stage.

Fourth Year

In the fourth year studios, industrial design education focuses on university and industry collaborations with a wide range of sectors. In the Graduation Project course, which is the last project course of our curriculum before graduation, each student is expected to develop a single design project for the entire semester in collaboration with a firm. In this project, which will reflect the skills and design approach that the student has acquired throughout their education in a unique way, it is aimed to rehearse professional life to a certain extent before graduation. The Graduation Projects Exhibition has been held every year since 2002 at METU Culture and Convention Center with the wide participation of the university, industry and our graduates. 

Other Courses

The design studio courses are accompanied by compulsory courses that provide students with in-depth technical and theoretical knowledge and skills. The curriculum includes courses on visualization and modelling techniques, covering freehand drawing, technical drawing, model making and computer-aided 3D modelling; and theoretical courses on elementary physics, structures, materials, manufacturing techniques, ergonomics and user research, marketing, design management, design history, and cultural and critical aspects of design. The curriculum also includes an extensive range of hands-on and theoretical elective courses that offer specific skills, knowledge and experience, from jewellery design to multimedia design. In addition, students are required to carry out summer practices in manufacturing companies and professional design offices.

The program provides students with design skills and knowledge to cope with diverse problem areas in industrial design without being restricted to fields of specialization. Our graduates are proficient at creatively defining and solving problems, planning and managing the design process, and conducting design-centred research, with an awareness of and sensitivity towards sociocultural and technological contexts. 

SUMMER PRACTICES

ID290 Elementary Workshop Practice and Computer Literacy in Design

ID290 Summer Practice is organized by the Department of Industrial Design for the Students passing from the first year to the second year. The aim of the summer practice is to equip the students with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience of basic physical model making techniques, processing certain materials and usage of existing equipment in the modeling workshop by considering occupational health and safety in the workshop practices and Computer Aided Design software and digital modeling. 

ID290 Summer Practice takes 4 weeks. Two weeks of the summer practice are dedicated to hands-on model making by diverse materials and techniques in the Faculty Model Making Workshop. The remaining two weeks cover the use of Computer Aided Design software in the Faculty Computer Lab.

ID390 Summer Practice in a Production Establishment

ID390 Summer Practice targets the students passing from the second year to the third year and takes 4 weeks. During the ID390 Summer Practice, the students are required to make observations on manufacturing processes in a manufacturing company or establishment and present their observations and experience in the form of a report to the Department.

ID490 Summer Practice in a Design Office

ID490 Summer Practice targets the students passing from the third year to the fourth year and takes 6 weeks. During the ID490 Summer Practice, the students are required to monitor the work done in a design office or a research center and reflect their experiences and observations to their reports.