Industrial Design Engineering

Ever wondered how IKEA managed to become the largest and most popular furniture retailer in the world? Well, it might have had something to do with the fact they let groups of users share their experience of the products and create sustainable furniture to suit their needs. Co-creation has become a reality for every professional designer. And it’s second nature to our IDE ‘open innovator’ students at The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS). Anyone can come up with a ground-breaking idea. But IDE teaches you is to funnel your creativity by collaborating with all stakeholders, taking ethics and other cultures into account and making a positive impact with the launch of your project.

On IDE, you’ll be seen as an open innovator rather than a trained designer. That’s because we work with the ‘4 i’s’ - the itch to solve a common problem, the insight you then acquire through research, the idea that flows from it and the impact this idea has on society. You could be the next bright engineer who invents a DIY drone, which helps Doctors without Borders to work more safely and effectively in warzones. You could engineer a wearable, which reduces smog in big cities, or create a human powered toy to comfort refugee children. After finishing the first Basics of IDE half-year on co-creating useful and sustainable ideas, you’ll choose four dynamic, thematic semesters. During each semester, you’ll work for a real client on integrated projects with supporting workshops and skills training. In the second half of year three, you’ll put your competencies to the test in an individual innovation project, either for a client or your own enterprise. You can choose a minor, a programme at another university, or an exchange abroad during your ‘choice’ semesters.

During year three, you’ll get the chance to specialise as a product designer by following a minor, either on IDE, at another THUAS faculty, or even another university. Some students apply for Sustainable Product Design or Packaging Design at THUAS. Or they choose to do a minor via Kies-op-Maat or abroad at one of our partner universities. This minor will develop your personal identity as an open innovator and give you the expertise to help you stand out in the job market.