Director

Felipe Duque Aragón

Length of program

9 semesters and 1 internship semester

Investment (semester)

$ 12.120.000 COP

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

"Come and develop your whole creative potential to transform our society through design, technology, and innovation"


The quality and excellence of the education given to Icesi’s Industrial Designers is evident in aspects such as Institutional High-Quality Accreditation, High-Quality Accreditation for the Program, and SaberPro Test results, which locate Industrial Designers from Icesi within the first places in Cali, and in Colombia.

Through leading-edge methodologies, and memorable learning experiences, we train a professional capable of undertaking, managing, and developing design and innovation projects, as well as new business models, based on the creational function of design, in order to increase the productive base of our country and perform successfully both nationally and internationally.

 

Our focus

We understand the way a design decision can influence the organization’s actions, and impact a community, society, as well as the national and international markets, which is why we form Industrial Designers who solve problems and needs for people, organizations, and markets, through the design of innovative, functional, aesthetic, and sustainable products and services that provide personal, social, and corporate wellbeing.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

Forming design strategists who transcend the fulfillment of projects, towards integral design solutions, by interpreting experiences in different markets, interacting with new ways of consumption, technologies, research, and teamwork, answering creatively, and with social responsibility, to everyday needs for design and innovation.

PROGRAM PRINCIPLES

The Program, in coherence with Universidad Icesi’s Mission, Vision of the Future, and Institutional Educational Project (PEI, in Spanish), is concerned with consolidating in its students an education based upon ethical values, critical thinking, and social responsibility.

A Program Graduate is governed by the following general principles:

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: Creation of products, services, and processes that meet the needs of diverse social groups, with the aim of improving their living conditions.

SUSTAINABILITY: Design of products, services, and processes that do not affect the environment or current societies, which also safeguard the resources for future generations.

ETHICS: Creating products, services, and processes that are designed under ethical criteria (recognition of intellectual and moral rights of their creators) and, besides, respectful of cultural, genre, ethical, and religious diversity.

LEARNING AND TEACHING METHODOLOGIES

Professors design meaningful experiences that allow students to attain their learning objectives, through methodologies such as:

Project/Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

Collaborative Work-Based Learning (CL)

GRADUATE PROFILE

You will be capable of undertaking and managing design projects, from the identification of opportunities to its subsequent development and effective divulgation, under the scheme of innovative and sustainable business models, based on the creational and dynamizing function of design.

You will become a design strategist who generates integral solutions in response to needs and opportunities identified in your surroundings, through the application of design and research methodologies, strategic thinking, leveraging existing technology, and participating in multidisciplinary teams.

You will possess the capability of business leadership in the field of Industrial Design, which enables you to be an active agent for the economic and technological development of the country, thus contributing to increase competitiveness within local and international markets.

FIELDS OF ACTION

Within a wide action field, you will stand out as:

  • Products, Services, and Process Designer for National and International Organizations,
  • Director of Innovation Departments,
  • Manager of Design Projects for Research and Development,
  • UX/UI Designer (User experiences),
  • Entrepreneur and Creator of Innovative Business Models,
  • Promoter for the development of innovation culture and capabilities within organizations in any sector.

 

Some of the national and international organizations where Industrial Design alumni are working:
organizaciones nacionales e internacionales diseno industrial

Entrepreneurs: Victoria Estudio de Diseño, Lala Galería Más Diseño, Grupo Natunova, Nala Shoes, Trapito con Lienzo, Angelique Ceramics, Vari (Joyas con sentido), Shoe Lovers.



The Program is divided into three stages: Basic, Deepening, and Professionalizing:

Basic Stage

Comprised of the first three semesters, it is intended to sensitize and contextualize the student regarding the basic elements of the discipline, as well as other aspects of knowledge required as fundamentals, and openness towards the University.

Deepening Stage

Consists of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh semesters. Subjects in this cycle are fundamental for the process of becoming a professional, the level of exigency increases, and the production of projects becomes more complex and profound. Projects rise from actual needs with very-well-determined target groups, as the Program seeks to get closer to local, regional, national, and international needs. From the fourth semester onwards, projects are developed with regional companies.

Professionalizing Stage

Semesters eighth through tenth. The last cycle of training that students experience is aimed towards professional performance, where most projects are developed with a high level of complexity. In this cycle students develop their graduation projects, and their business internships, besides attending groups of elective courses that allow them to go into some areas with greater intensity.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

The Industrial Design Program helps you to develop the following professional competencies:

  1. Identification of opportunities, stating, and solving complex problems by applying design principles.
  2. Materialization of innovative and sustainable solutions, in their formal and functional dimensions, that add value for involved actors, affecting socially and productively in a specific context.
  3. Effective communication in Spanish and English of a design project and its results, using the appropriate and technical language for the discipline, and taking into consideration the actual conditions of the context, as well as the target audience.
  4. Functioning effectively in self-managed teams, creating inclusive and collaborative spaces, setting common goals, planning tasks, and fulfilling responsibilities in order to achieve project objectives.
  5. Development of new business models, based on the creational and dynamic function of design, using final-user tools to analyze business data and make decisions regarding its designs and products.
  6. Autonomously acquire and apply new knowledge, as required, using adequate learning strategies.
  7. Acknowledge your ethical and professional responsibilities as a Designer, and make informed judgements, taking into consideration the impact of design solutions in economic, environmental, and social global contexts.

DIGITAL PASSPORTS

Digital Passports are extracurricular courses offered by the Department of Design and Innovation, aimed at enabling students to handle software required in the syllabus of the Program. Digital Passports lay the foundations for students to explore available software tools, thus being able to apply concepts seen in the subjects of their specialty.

These courses are offered permanently, students can take virtual Passports during any time of the year.


REGARDING ACCREDITATION (ONLY THE LOGO WILL BE PLACED)

National Accreditation: CNA
Logo Acreditación Nacional: CNA

International Agreements

REASONS TO STUDY INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AT ICESI

You will develop the skills required to produce innovative and creative ideas, also for managing and developing successful projects, linked to manufacturing, science, innovation, and technology.

You can live memorable educational experiences by approaching real corporate projects, within the academic processes.

You will be part of the select group of industrial designers who have occupied the first places in Cali and in Colombia in terms of Saber Pro Test results, over the last four years.

You will get the chance of studying in an ideal environment for interdisciplinary work, while developing competencies for teamwork and entrepreneurship.

You can have access to facilities equipped with the latest technologies to carry out learning activities and strategies, among those, the Design Workshop, which contains the MakerLab, fitted with 3D printers for rapid prototyping, as well as virtual and augmented reality equipment for experimentation. Digital Laboratory, INNLab®, UXLab, and IoT Lab.

FACILITIES AND LABORATORIES

F Building - Classrooms

Classrooms with flexible furniture, adaptable to suit the needs of collaborative work, and activities required to develop projects and learning strategies within the design process.

Laboratory – Design Workshop

720 sq. m. (7,750 sq. Ft.) equipped with electric machinery for cutting, machining, and finishing, manual and power tools, measuring equipment, as well as painting, welding, and metal transformation gear, cleaning systems, industrial safety equipment, work benches, laser cutting systems, large format CNC machines, and thermal forming, among others. A space for idea materialization.

MakerLab

This area is destined for experimenting, developing formative research projects (graduation projects, research groups, workshops), and rapid prototyping. Equipped with machines for additive manufacturing and new technologies.

Digital Design Laboratories

Two computer rooms for Windows based machines, and two Mac-specialized rooms. The equipment has all the hardware and software components required to develop all sorts of practices regarding digital expression, audio and video editing, animation, 3d modelling, visual design, and programming.

Innovation Laboratory (Innlab)

The INNLab® is a flexible space, equipped for collaborative work; characterized by having a variety of furniture that can be adapted according to different activities and learning strategies. Some activities that take place in it are: classes, creative workshops, co-working, idea prototyping, role playing, and presentations, among other academic and corporate activities.

Formation lines
  • Languages
  • Disciplinary expertise
  • Professional expertise
  • Science and humanities
  • Citizenship