MSc in Design and Technology Futures
Tallinn, Estonia
DURATION
2 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline *
EARLIEST START DATE
Aug 2024
TUITION FEES
EUR 5,000 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* non-EU citizens; 1 June - citizens of EU/EEA countries and Switzerland
** free for EU/EEA citizens
Introduction
Design and Technology Future (D& TF) is built on the notion that a deep understanding of modern technology, an appreciation of cultural diversity, and a creative mindset are the main driving forces of any successful innovation. It is a transdisciplinary program merging the competencies and skills of technology and design.
Design and Technology Futures is combining education and innovation into an enabling platform that on one hand collaborates with industry and government partners to search for new ways out from the modern complex challenges and on the other hand, engages students with new and unique experiences out of their comfort zones in order to create innovation and new thinking. To find out what the future might be.
The challenges in the program are presented in an open format, encouraging students’ personal creative development and self-expression.
Why this Program?
- The program offers an opportunity to acquire integrated practical and theoretical knowledge in design-driven innovation with an ability to spark, lead, and perform future-oriented tech-intensive product, and service concept development
- Exiting cooperation projects with industry, government partners, or society looking for new opportunities for technology development into promising product-service systems
- Teaching staff with high theoretical and practical experience.
Admissions
Curriculum
Complete 120 ECTS credits to fulfill the academic requirements
- General studies - cover cultural theory and visual literacy that helps to understand the inter-relationship of culture, science, technology, and economic development
- Core studies - include courses about design (human-centered design, corporate entrepreneurship, and design), engineering (production digitalization, concurrent product development), entrepreneurship (entrepreneurship and business planning), etc.
- Special studies - students learn about service systems design tools, methods, and practices that are tested and polished in action during real development projects
- Free choice courses - students can choose from a wide variety of courses offered at the university
- Graduation thesis - a research project that will define problems and offer a set of innovative methods and scientific principles to solve them
Gallery
Program Outcome
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the program is:
- To prepare young professionals with a background in innovation design or technology who are able to spark, lead, and perform socially and economically future-oriented product- or service concept development
- To offer the possibility to gain a wide range of theoretical and practical knowledge about the interdependence of design, technology, and economics
- To create a skillset to implement design thinking for dealing with contemporary complex problems, understanding the interests, limits, and possibilities of users, technology, and entrepreneurs in economic, social, and cultural context
- To create an understanding of sustainable development regarding social, environmental, and economic sense
- To hold a discussion about the role of design in the context of emerging technology, culture, society, and environment
- To ensure skills and attitude to work efficiently in an interdisciplinary team towards solving complex and undefined problems
- To create an understanding of the strategic functions of a company, including technological production processes, business planning, marketing, and design management
- To encourage and support to take responsibility and work actively for creating a better World.
Learning Outcomes
After passing the curriculum the student:
- Is able to systematically develop innovative concepts testing different possible Futures of essential themes for people and society
- Has acquired skills and abilities to handle problems systemically by being able to untangle them, noticing the interrelationships between different nodes and opportunities for possible change
- Can creatively and critically envision future possibilities of emerging technologies and propose new and well-explored concepts for possible solution opportunities in socio-cultural and economic context
- Is able to contextualize developed concepts and understand and consider the effect of a new proposition in creating meaningful and desirable Futures
- Is able to plan, lead, and manage design-led transdisciplinary research and development process
- Demonstrates knowledge and skills to conduct human-centered development process, can independently perform user, design, and technology research, and masters co-creation techniques to involve users and stakeholders in development process
- Knows design and product development processes, masters skills to integrate design, technology, and entrepreneurship mindsets in development activities
- Has acquired entrepreneurship, brand building, and marketing knowledge and understands the relationship between company’s strategic level, commercializing and developing new ideas, products, and services
- Has acquired knowledge about contemporary production processes and can make decisions about production planning
- Presents skills and knowledge to work out concept ideas for new product- and service systems, for running agile and iterative product development, rapid prototyping, and testing
- Is able to attractively and clearly present the outcome and the process of the work, revealing design ambition, the value for users and/or society, and the opportunity for commercialization.
Graduates of this programme will be awarded a Master of Science in Engineering (MSc).
Scholarships and Funding
Students can apply for performance scholarships. The amount of the scholarship is 100 € (euros) per month. First-year students can apply from the second semester. For more information, please contact the university.
Career Opportunities
Entrepreneurs, innovation leaders, product and service developers and managers who are able to work in a wide scope of creative integrated development teams and run design-driven innovation projects integrating together the technological possibilities provided by industry with opportunities found on the market and in the society.