Design@Large

Design@Large expects students to engage in an experience outside of the MDes courses and studio, and apply what they have learned in a broader context. It typically takes place in the summer between the MDes Spring and Fall semesters. The Design@Large degree requirement is uniquely defined by each student’s own interests and career goals, and may be satisfied by:

  • securing an industry internship,
  • contributing to a research project,
  • launching or contributing to a new start-up or business, 
  • leading an independent or collaborative project,
  • working in a government, service, or non-profit organization,
  • teaching, mentoring, or volunteering,
  • engaging in an immersive, community-based experience, and/or
  • a combination of different experiences in the above categories

The MDes program provides Career Development coaching and other resources to aid students in their pursuit of internships or other professional opportunities as part of this requirement. It is each student’s responsibility, however, to define and identify their Design@Large experience.

Students are expected to demonstrate the completion of the Design@Large requirement by 1) sharing out about their experience with the new incoming cohort at the start of fall semester and 2) documenting a project or contribution from their experience in DES INV 219: Capstone Portfolio, a culminating core course in the third semester of the program.  

 

Examples of Design@Large experiences during Summer 2022 

Internships

  • UX Design Intern @ Microsoft
  • Design Technologist @ Logitech
  • Product Design Intern @ Uber
  • Service Designer @ IBM
  • Design + Engineering Intern @ NASA JPL
  • Experience Design Intern @ Adobe
  • Product Strategy Intern @ Method
  • Textile Design Intern @ Bilio
  • Product Design Prototype Intern @ Meta
  • Research Intern @ Microsoft
  • Technologist @ 10xBeta
  • Digital Sculptor Intern @ General Motors
  • UX Design Intern @ Amazon
  • Graphic Design Intern @ Applied Materials
  • Sr. UX Designer @ Capital One
  • Product Design Intern @ Squarespace
  • User Experience Design Intern @ Google
  • Product Design Intern @ LinkedIn
  • UX Design Intern @ Indeed
  • Product Designer @ Dynamoid
  • UX Designer @ BMW
  • Product Designer @ Zepelin
  • UX Design Intern @ Cisco Meraki

Research & Faculty-Led Projects

  • Development of Open-Source, Accessible Tech for Blind and Low-Vision Individuals with Joshua Miele, MacArthur Fellow and Principal Accessibility Researcher at Amazon Lab126.

Start-Ups/Independent Projects

  • Participating in Berkeley Skydeck program as CEO/Co-Founder of Empathie, a mental health app that teaches Asian Americans how to navigate tough life situations involving family, work, self-criticism, and other life stresses.
  • Continuing work on an award-winning startup, BroadAR, developing Smell Revived, the first virtual reality smell training system targeting Post-COVID smell dysfunction.
  • Establishing a materials-forward vintage clothing company.

Examples of Design@Large experiences during Summer 2021 

Internships

  • FreeStyle Libre Product Team @ Abbott
  • VR/AR consultant @ Accenture
  • Alibaba in Beijing
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Product Design @ Earnest 
  • Ezra Lee Design+Build in Salt Lake City, UT
  • UX Design @ Google 
  • Microsoft Research
  • UX Design @ Microsoft
  • AI + UI @Tempo.fit
  • UX Design @ Tencent in Beijing
  • SchoolLab
  • TikTok in Shanghai
  • UX/UI @ TH Experiential

Research & Faculty-Led Projects

  • Verified Human Interfaces, Control, and Learning for Semi-Autonomous Systems with Björn Hartmann, Associate Professor, EECS
  • Generative Design for Learning-Based Oracle-Guided Compositional Symbiotic Design of CPS with Björn Hartmann, Associate Professor, EECS
  • LEGO ROAR with Allen Yang, Executive Director, FHL Vive Center.
  • Immersive Semi-Autonomous Aerial Command System: Virtual Reality Interface for Multi-UAV Teleoperation, with Allen Yang, Executive Director, FHL Vive Center
  • Installation for the “City X Venice” show organized by Tom Kovac at the Italian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale with Kyle Steinfeld, Associate Professor of Architecture 
  • Virtual Bauer Wurster Hall with Luisa Caldas, Professor of Architecture, Director XR Lab

Start-Ups/Independent Projects

  • Building the brand & fashion line in preparation for Shanghai Fashion Week Fall 2021
  • Building new business model for a personal business, and collaboration with a local new coffee shop to develop some guerrilla marketing approaches
  • Continuing award-winning project/start-up business with goal of securing funding or a place in a business incubator
  • Independent Industrial Design consulting