Program Overview

Department of Design and Merchandising

The Department of Design and Merchandising offers various programs, including:

• B.S. in Apparel and Merchandising
  • Minor in Merchandising
• B.S. in Interior Architecture and Design
• M.S. in Design and Merchandising

Advising and Support

The department provides advising and support services, including:

• Assistantships, Fellowships, and Scholarships
• Career Opportunities
• Graduate Program Application Process
• Internship Opportunities
• Study Tours and Education Abroad

Research

The department is involved in various research areas, including:

• Faculty Research and Creative Scholarship
• Connected and Mediated Environments Laboratory
• Fashion Sustainability Research Collaborative
• Inclusive Innovations Laboratory
• Smart Textiles and Nanotechnology Research Group
• Spatial Perception and Cognitive Experience Laboratory
• Student Research Theses

Community Engagement

The department is committed to community engagement and service learning, with initiatives such as:

• Fashion FUNdamentals
• Green Your Laundry

Technology Spec Guide

The department provides a technology spec guide for students, which includes:

Should I utilize my existing computer?

While a laptop is not required, IAD students have found that having a personal laptop that can run the required software offers them more flexibility in how and where they work without having to rely on the computer lab.

Should I purchase a Mac or a PC?

The IAD Program recommends purchasing a Windows-based computer, as Autodesk Revit does not run directly on a Macintosh operating system.

What are the hardware recommendations?

The hardware recommendations are geared toward the IA Concentration and include:

• Processor: Intel i-Series, Xeon, AMD Ryzen, Ryzen Threadripper PRO
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti or AMD RX 6800 or better
• Memory: 32GB-64GB or higher
• Hard Drive: SSD storage of 1-2TB
• Display: 1920 x 1080 (higher resolution recommended)
• Pointing Device: External mouse

What software will I need?

The software required for the program includes:

• Autodesk Revit
• AutoCAD
• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Enscape
• Rhino (optional)

What if I am in the Interior Products and Retailing (IPR) Concentration?

If you are an IPR student, you can focus your laptop requirements on the software required for AutoCAD and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Additional Notes/Guidance

It is recommended that students have a large enough external drive to store and work on all active projects, and use an external drive for regular backups. Only backups (not active project files) should be copied to the cloud.