Program Overview

Industrial Design Major

The Industrial Design Major at Virginia Tech is a comprehensive program that prepares students for a career in industrial design. The program is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in design principles, human factors, and technical skills.

Program Curriculum

The program curriculum includes a range of courses that cover the principles of industrial design, design visualization, human factors, and materials and processes. The curriculum is divided into several sections, including:

• Degree Core Requirements:
  • IDS 2015: Industrial Design Laboratory II (5 credits)
  • IDS 2016: Industrial Design Laboratory II (6 credits)
  • IDS 3015: Industrial Design Laboratory III (6 credits)
  • IDS 3016: Industrial Design Laboratory III (6 credits)
  • IDS 4015: Industrial Design Laboratory IV (6 credits)
  • IDS 4016: Industrial Design Laboratory IV (6 credits)
• Major Requirements:
  • ARCH 1015: Foundation Design Laboratory (6 credits)
  • ARCH 1016: Foundation Design Laboratory (6 credits)
  • IDS 2034: Design Visualization (3 credits)
  • IDS 2044: Human Factors (3 credits)
  • IDS 2304: Computer Aided Industrial Design (3 credits)
  • IDS 3124: Materials and Processes (3 credits)
  • IDS 3514: Design Research (3 credits)
  • IDS 3900: Bridge Experience 1 (0 credits)
  • IDS 4044: Professional Practice and Entrepreneurship (2 credits)
• Professional Elective Courses:
  • Complete 9 credit hours of 3XXX-4XXX Professional Electives (9 credits)
• Pathways to General Education:
  • Pathways Concept 1 - Discourse:
    • ENGL 1105: First-Year Writing (3 credits)
    • ENGL 1106: First-Year Writing (3 credits)
    • Select three credits in Pathway 1a (3 credits)
  • Pathways Concept 2 - Critical Thinking in the Humanities:
    • ART 2385: Survey of the History of Western Art (3 credits)
    • ART 2386: Survey of the History of Western Art (3 credits)
  • Pathways Concept 3 - Reasoning in the Social Sciences:
    • Select six credits in Pathway 3 (6 credits)
  • Pathways Concept 4 - Reasoning in the Natural Sciences:
    • Select six credits in Pathway 4 (6 credits)
  • Pathways Concept 5 - Quantitative and Computational Thinking:
    • Select one of the following:
      • MATH 1014 & MATH 1025: Precalculus with Transcendental Functions and Elementary Calculus
      • MATH 1025 & MATH 1026: Elementary Calculus and Elementary Calculus
      • MATH 1535 & MATH 1536: Geometry and Mathematics of Design and Geometry and Mathematics of Design
    • Select three credits in Pathway 5a (3 credits)
  • Pathways Concept 6 - Critique and Practice in Design and the Arts:
    • IDS 2114: History of Industrial Design (3 credits)
    • IDS 2124: History of Modern Industrial Designers (3 credits)
  • Pathways Concept 7 - Critical Analysis of Identity and Equity in the United States:
    • Select three credits in Pathway 7 (3 credits)

Graduation Requirements

To graduate from the Industrial Design Major, students must meet the following requirements:

• GPA Requirements:
  • Minimum in-major 2.30 GPA in IDS courses
  • Minimum overall 2.00 GPA
• Prerequisites:
  • Some courses may have pre-/co-requisites; please consult the University Course Catalog or check with your advisor.
• Foreign Language Requirement:
  • Students who do not successfully complete at least 2 units of a single language, classical language, or American Sign Language during high school must successfully complete 6 semester hours of a single college level language or classical language at the college level.

Satisfactory Progress Towards Degree

The University requires every department to establish benchmarks by which their majors can demonstrate that they are making satisfactory progress towards a degree. In addition to successful completion of the University requirements, in the case of Industrial Design, the student must have completed ARCH 1015 Foundation Design Laboratory and ARCH 1016 Foundation Design Laboratory with a minimum grade point average of 2.00. If a student receives below a "C-" in IDS 2015 Industrial Design Laboratory II, IDS 2016 Industrial Design Laboratory II, IDS 3015 Industrial Design Laboratory III, IDS 3016 Industrial Design Laboratory III, and IDS 4015 Industrial Design Laboratory IV, students will not be able to progress to the next semester of design laboratory and the course will need to be repeated.

Restricted Major Requirements

Students who submit an application to Industrial Design through the internal major change process must meet the following requirements prior to entering the major:

1. Minimum 2.5 GPA in all courses prior to ARCH 1015
2. Application and Interview for Admission to the Degree Program

Footnotes

1. The Bridge Experience is the application of academic knowledge and skills to a work-based experience aligned with post-graduation goals using research-based learning processes. Satisfactory completion of work-based experience often in the form of internship, undergraduate research, co-op, or study abroad; self-evaluation; reflection; and showcase of learning. Pre-Departmental approval of 3900 plan anytime after the first year. Register for the semester that corresponds with the beginning of the Bridge Experience.
2. Six credit hours from any of the Topics courses are required for completion of degree; two of the six credit hours must be used for these subtopics: Portfolio (1 credit) and Workshop (1 credit). The subtopic courses are short, however, the time and credit hours may vary depending on the subject. Subtopic offerings may be repeated with instructor's permission.
3. Professional elective requirements can be fulfilled from various courses throughout campus. The following subjects at 3000 or 4000 level are approved as professional electives: IDS, ARCH, ITDS, LAR, ART, SOC, AHRM, PSYC, COMM, CS, ENGE, ENGL, HUM, DRS, MGT, MKTG, PHIL, RED, SBIO, STS. Enrollment is based on space available and prerequisites student has completed.