Close A line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.

Transportation Design

Play Pause
Navigation Up explore
ma
mfa

About the Program

Students are invited to assume the role of “designer as inventor,” as they are led through a complete design process that includes extensive research, sketching and 3D rendering, animation, core competencies analysis, and more. Special projects explore innovation through forms and materials, functionality, and engineering. Students apply to this understanding a real-world strategy that includes business practices, research, brand identity, vehicle architecture, and mobility as a system.

Faculty Curriculum Facilities Student Work Minor in Design for Sustainability

Our curriculum is led by faculty who understand what it takes to succeed in the design industry because they have been or currently are successful industry practitioners and leaders. Students learn not only to become critical thinkers and strategic designers but to be professionals because creative talent and execution skills alone do not guarantee career advancement or entrepreneurial success.

Students are taught to work effectively in teams both as leaders and as team peers. They cope with the real stresses of deadlines and uncertainties, both within and outside of their control. They learn to champion their ideas through formal presentations and rigorous critiques led by industry professionals who are in positions to recruit and hire promising talent.

 

Airplane Designer
Alias Modeler
Automotive Color & Trim
Designer
Automotive Exterior Designer
Automotive Interior Designer
Autonomous Vehicle Designer
Bicycle Designer
Clay Modeler/Sculptor
Concept Hardware Artist
Creative Designer
Design Engineer
Digital Modeler/Sculptor
Industrial Designer
Market Researcher
Mass Transit Designer
Mobility Systems Designer
Motorcycle Designer
Recreational Vehicle Designer
Surface Designer
Transportation Systems
Designer
UX Designer
Vehicle Exterior Designer
Vehicle Interior Designer
Virtual Reality Designer
Watercraft Designer

The Graduate level Transportation Design program offers both Full-Time and Part-Time options for both MA and MFA degrees.

The 30-credit MA (initial degree) is the first year of the 60-credit MFA (terminal degree), with classes focusing on professional and technical skills and knowledge. During the second year, students embark on an independently defined critical enquiry.

Applicants to the Graduate Transportation Design program may be recommended to enroll in an additional year of study for their selected degree (MA or MFA) based on the review of application materials. The recommendation could result in an offer of admissions to a 2 year MA or 3 year MFA program. Details regarding this will be shared during the admissions interview.

Graduate Transportation Design Thesis

REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE; LONG-TERM CAREERS

Graduates of the Transportation Design program are innovators, in automotive design and all aspects of mobility, always with an eye toward the future.

In 2022, the program The program boasted a 100% placement rate* (based on a 100% knowledge rate**)

*Placement Rate – is the percentage of graduates engaged in a career outcome in an art or design field 1.5 years after graduation.
** Knowledge Rate is the percentage of alumni in the graduating class for whom we have information.

In the News