Design for ImpACCt Course 2023
Interdisciplinary + Intercollegiate Course
How might we blur various types of boundaries to collaboratively and meaningfully use the power of design-driven processes and weave the sciences, technology, engineering, and the liberal arts to help make society more just and to better develop talented, servant-leaders our world truly needs? Radical collaboration across disciplines is the key.
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Leaders Network (ALN) Design For ImpACCt (DFI) is an interdisciplinary, interinstitutional project-based learning human-centered design course often offered as an internship experience. DFI was originally conceptualized, designed, and launched four years ago by Professors Julia DeVoy (Boston College); Daniel Harding (Clemson University); Tsailu Liu (NC State); and Amanda Morris,Virginia Tech). With the subsequent addition of Professors Katheryn Wozniak (Industrial Design - NC State U), David Gray ( Engineering - Virginia Tech) and Sunand Bhattacharya (Human-centered Design - Boston College), the course has grown to provide our students with an immersive interdisciplinary, interuniversity, intergenerational design thinking experience and storytelling.
Innovate with Intent
Design for ImpACCt (DFI) project was born from the collective realization that our future leaders must be adept at navigating and integrating diverse disciplinary languages and paradigms. Our rationale is not merely academic; it's about preparing students for the nuanced, interconnected world they will enter upon graduation.
Holistic Interdisciplinary Education
By bringing together students from industrial design, architecture, engineering, and liberal arts, the course creates an interdisciplinary learning platform that encourages the cross-pollination of ideas and strategies from varied fields, nurturing a holistic approach to design and problem-solving.
Cross-University Collaboration
It fosters a collaborative educational model that leverages the unique strengths and insights of each participating ACC ( Atlantic Coast Conference) institution, promoting an unparalleled synergy in learning and innovation.
Action-Oriented Learning
The program emphasizes active, problem-centric learning, where students apply multidisciplinary strategies to real-world challenges. This approach not only enhances practical skills but also prepares students to effectively communicate complex solutions, ensuring they are well-equipped to make substantive contributions to their fields and to society at large.
ACC- ALN SUMMIT '23
Friday, November 17th, 2023
This year the DFI course is addressing the Stanford Longevity Challenge called Designing Life Transitions. There are seven teams working collectively to understand the ecosystem surrounding a selected problem area using mapping techniques, identifying a concrete problem to tackle, looking in-depth into users, stakeholders, influencers, gathering insights from empathy and journey maps and settling on a direction to design and innovate upon. This year DFI has seven teams working on diverse topics addressing life transitions.
