Program Information
TOBB ETU Department of Industrial Design was established within the Faculty of Architecture and Design in 2011. The aim of the four year undergraduate program is to train fully-equipped industrial designers who can respond to the need for innovative solutions in the industry and develop unique product and service designs for users. In line with this purpose, students are prepared for professional practice through an 11 semester undergraduate program which is comprised of an 8 semester-long departmental, foreign language and elective course-based education and 3 semester-long cooperative education program in partnership with the leading firms in the industry with an aim to offer students a real-world experience. The undergraduate program at the Department of Industrial Design cultivates students' technical and critical skills both with applied and theory-based courses while offering opportunities for them to experience the overall product development process through multi-disciplinary projects that are conducted in collaboration with engineering departments.
1. The Program aims to offer an industrial design education with international standards, to contribute to society with the generation of knowledge through research projects, develop innovative solutions for the particular needs of the Turkish industry and to support technological and scientific development that would respond to the national needs and expectations as a leading provider of education and research. The main objective of this major is to train fully-equipped leading "industrial designers" who can pursue careers in industry and academia, take part in research&development, design and manufacturing projects, who are creative, visionary, open to change and self-imrovement, inclined to multi-disciplinary collaborative work, socially and environmentally aware, up-to-date with regards to technological advancements and who are capable of contributing to social well-being and national economy through creating innovative design solutions.
Students who successfully complete this program are awarded a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design.
The Industrial Design program is a Bachelor's degree program, classified as Level 6 in the Turkish Higher Education Qualifications Framework (TYYÇ).
Students have to successfully pass all of the courses on the Industrial Design Undergraduate Program curriculum. In order to qualify for a graduate diploma, students are required to complete the conditions for all courses that are indicated on the TOBB ETU Undergraduate Education Regulation and to have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 out of 4.0. In addition, students have to accomplish the cooperative education program.
Prospective students who want to enroll in the program are placed with the Central Placement Exam that is conducted by the Assessment, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM). Prospective students are placed in the Industrial Design Undergraduate Program via a software-based system depending on the success ranking of ÖSYM according to their score from the Central Placement Exam and their cumulative grade point average from high school.
Students are required to complete their higher education and get a score that would meet the minimum requirements in the suited category in the national placement examination.
Students are assessed based on the grade point percentage that is defined on the course information forms given at the beginning of the semester. In line with this criterion, they are graded in compliance with TOBB ETU Undergraduate Education Regulation.
The duration of the program is 11 semesters. According to the TOBB ETU Undergraduate Education Regulation, students are required to attend to classes. The undergraduate program is comprised of applied and theoretical departmental courses, common cultural courses, English and second foreign language courses along with faculty and university elective courses. 11 semester undergraduate program consists of an 8 semester-long departmental, foreign language and elective course-based education and 3 semester-long cooperative education program in partnership with the firms in the industry.
It is compulsory for students to have a minimum grade point average of 2.0 out of 4.0 and to successfully pass all of the courses on the Industrial Design Undergraduate Program curriculum. According to the TOBB ETU Undergraduate Education Regulation, graduates of the Industrial Design Program have to get a score of 513 from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL ITP).
Industrial design is an in-demand profession in Turkey as a country with a growing industry in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage in the international markets. Product design is a strategical tool for manufacturing firms based on various scales of production. Raising awareness on the importance of industrial design profession in Turkish industry have resulted in the expansion of the scope of application areas for designers in recent years. Today, with the creation of national brands, increasing interest in the industrial design profession and the growing understanding on the significance of a national design strategy, graduates can pursue careers in industral design in public or private sector or establish their own companies to provide industrial design and design management consultancy service to the industry. There are various job opportunities for industrial designers in the industry regardless of sector.
Graduates can pursue graduate education (master's, PhD or proficiency in art) on the condition that they meet the requirements of the applied programs.