Centre for Competitive Creative Design and Design Thinking Excellence Scholarships now available – Apply now
Study for a Master of Design at Cranfield
Innovative companies today (large or small) strive for excellence to create the next breakthrough innovation - whether that be to advance technology, stay competitive in the market place, or to provide positive change for society. To achieve this, companies need to maintain their competitive edge, employing talented professionals with ideas and vision, coupled with the skills to innovate with confidence. We believe that Design Thinking is a powerful process that when mastered will empower our professional learners to unlock their creative potential to generate novel ideas and to translate these ideas into tangible and impactful outputs for innovation. This course has been carefully designed to advance your knowledge of Design Thinking, working with confidence to generate convincing ideas, provide you with the opportunity to apply Design Thinking in practise with a company, improve your opportunity of job success, through the building of your professional skills and innovation design portfolio, and provide you with the ‘know how’ to develop your long term career as a creative professional.Overview
- Start dateFull-time and part-time students register in October
- DurationOne year full-time, two-three years part-time
- DeliveryTaught modules 40%, Group projects 20%, Individual project 40%
- QualificationMDes, PgDip, PgCert
- Study typeFull-time / Part-time
- CampusCranfield campus
Who is it for?
The course is designed for (but not exclusive to) creative professionals with an aspiration to use Design Thinking to advance their career. It aims to develop creative design literate engineers, scientists and management postgraduates providing tools and techniques to visualise complex data flows and strategic communication processes. It is suitable for graduates from a variety of disciplines.
Your career
Successful students have turned their dreams into a reality developing diverse and rewarding careers in product, manufacturing and service industries in the private sector, public sector organisations such as environmental protection agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and design, environmental and business consultancies.
Cranfield Careers Service
Our Careers Service can help you find the job you want after leaving Cranfield. We will work with you to identify suitable opportunities and support you in the job application process for up to three years after graduation. We have been providing Masters level training for over 20 years. Our strong reputation and links with potential employers provide you with outstanding opportunities to secure interesting jobs and develop successful careers. The increasing interest in sustainability and corporate and social responsibility has also enhanced the career prospects of our graduates.
The staff in C4D are fantastic and they’ve tailored our lectures to the way that we work, by looking at our own background. So it’s tailoring the lectures to what people know and what they don’t know.
While I was considering a master’s, I came across Cranfield where I realised it was one of the only schools, if not the only school that actually integrated design and engineering and business and other variety of fields.
After leaving Cranfield I worked as a Design Innovation Advisor for Innovate UK and the Knowledge Transfer Network. I am now based in Charlotte, North Carolina and work as a Senior Director for Electrolux. Many of the methods I studied during my Cranfield course have been useful to guide diverse teams in delivering desirable, human-centred solutions that address genuine real-world challenges.
I wanted a blend of design and business from my master’s degree. That, along with Cranfield’s status, is why I chose to study here. The best part of the course was the chance to gain experience working with industry clients during the group and individual projects, which gave me a step up once I finished my course and was looking for employment.
Why this course?
If you are a professional wanting to advance your career using Design Thinking, then this course is perfect for you. All students on this course will be expected to work on solving several complex challenges set by companies, manage a project from start to completion, and the opportunity to rub shoulders with executive-level decision makers or senior innovation managers.
Powered by the Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D), this masters in Design Thinking exploits existing expertise within Cranfield’s School of Water, Energy and Environment and School of Management.
Informed by Industry
This MDes is taught by subject specialists at Cranfield and invited guest speakers from industry. The course is designed to meet the training needs of industry and has a strong input from experts in the sector to reflect state of the art industrial practices and global trends such as digitisation and the circular economy.
Accreditation
The MDes of this course is accredited by the Chartered Society of Designers.
The master of design programme within the Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D) are the latest to gain Chartered Society of Designers accreditation within the CSD Course Endorsement Programme, a collaborative initiative with academia that recognises and supports excellence in nurturing designers ‘from learning to earning’™.
Prof. Leon Williams, Head of Centre for Competitive Creative Design (C4D), said, ‘We are delighted to receive this accreditation from the internationally renowned CSD, and look forward to a close working relationship with them.’ The CSD Course Endorsement Programme is a collaborative initiative with academia, the Chief Executive of the CSD, Frank Peters, said: ‘The courses delivered by C4D point the way forward for the design profession which is seeing design thinking increasingly adopted as a strategic business tool…’ As part of the five year accreditation licence all learners receive free student membership of the Society and will benefit from design practitioner visits and workshops.
Commenting on the accreditation, the Chief Executive of the CSD, Frank Peters, said: "The courses delivered by C4D point the way forward for the design profession which is seeing design thinking increasingly adopted as a strategic business tool thus requiring designers to practice in a new domain in order to deliver a competitive edge. This educational programme, together with the Register of Chartered Designers and our framework for professional design practice (CPSK) offers staff and students of design, practitioners and the design sector the means to successfully negotiate this new design paradigm."
Course details
The MDes course comprises five assessed modules in which you will use design thinking to accelerate innovation.
You will engage in creative leadership, strategic design management, design thinking and innovation strategy, technology and prototyping and circular innovation.
Modules are delivered in facilities in Cranfield, supported by seminars, workshops and lectures in creative and design agencies, providing a closer link to professional practice.
You will also undertake a group project in which they apply their skills to real business challenges, and complete an individual thesis project.
Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) you will complete five modules and the group project. Postgraduate Certificate (PgCert) you will complete five modules.
Course delivery
Taught modules 40%, Group projects 20%, Individual project 40%
Group project
The group project experience is highly valued by both students and prospective employers. You will work in teams to solve an industrial problem. The project applies technical knowledge and provides training in teamwork and the opportunity to develop non-technical aspects of the taught programme. If you study part-time you can prepare a dissertation on an agreed topic in place of the group project.
Industrially-orientated, our team projects have support from external organisations.
As a result of external engagement Cranfield students enjoy a higher degree of success when it comes to securing employment. Prospective employers value the student experience where team working to find solutions to industrially based problems are concerned.
Recent group projects include:
Individual project
The individual thesis project offers you the opportunity to develop their research capability, depth of understanding and ability to provide world-class solutions to real problems in design strategy and leadership.
Modules
Keeping our courses up-to-date and current requires constant innovation and change. The modules we offer reflect the needs of business and industry and the research interests of our staff and, as a result, may change or be withdrawn due to research developments, legislation changes or for a variety of other reasons. Changes may also be designed to improve the student learning experience or to respond to feedback from students, external examiners, accreditation bodies and industrial advisory panels.
To give you a taster, we have listed the compulsory and elective (where applicable) modules which are currently affiliated with this course. All modules are indicative only, and may be subject to change for your year of entry.
Course modules
Compulsory modules
All the modules in the following list need to be taken as part of this course.
Consumer Trends
Aim |
This module introduces you to new methods of observing and analysing tangible and intangible elements of behaviour, expectations, and associations of consumer groups. It intends to provide an insight into how developing a deep understanding of user attitudes and behaviour enables organisations to connect to what is ultimately important to consumers and importantly can help you to design innovative and strategic solutions that are appropriate for consumer use. |
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Syllabus |
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Intended learning outcomes |
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
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Design, Technology and Prototyping
Module Leader |
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Aim |
This specialised module will advance your technical skills in industry prototyping design processes. You will also be introduced to the facilities and workshops available at Cranfield. |
Syllabus |
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Intended learning outcomes |
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
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Whole System Design
Aim |
This module aims to introduce you to strategies and tools that enable integrated sustainable product development to take place. You will gain experience of the real life scenarios in which a holistic approach to designing for improved sustainability is required. Delivering environmental improvements in products requires organisations to take a longer-term integrated view of their product and service policies. To support this an appreciation for a range of tools and techniques, used to guide designers responding to the requirements for more sustainable development of products, services and organisational processes, will be developed. |
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Syllabus |
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Intended learning outcomes |
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
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Creative Enterprise and Entrepreneurship
Module Leader |
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Aim |
This module provides a forum for examining mindsets, methods, and managerial activities that are involved in the entrepreneurial process from opportunity recognition to growing ventures. While the most visible outcome of this module is a written business plan, we will cover a wide area of issues related to starting and growing new ventures. The module is intended to expose you to the main issues associated with the dynamic and uncertain environment of new ventures. During the module, you are therefore required to form teams around ideas for new ventures and to develop and present plans to launch their business idea. |
Syllabus |
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Intended learning outcomes |
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
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Project Management Introduction
Aim |
Project Management Introduction (PMI) demonstrates how management respects no boundaries (either in terms of functional silos – departments, etc. or theoretical disciplines). PMI provides additional opportunities to practice personal communication skills, and generally the module provides a basis for personal development and increased confidence and self-awareness. The central aims of the module are to develop an introductory understanding of the fundamental principles of project management, applied in the contemporary environment of enterprise projects. The module will also demonstrate the application of the main techniques and processes of project management in a team-based application of the planning/execution/control cycle. The module will provide a logical and simple process by which you may approach your own modules and objectives, and may well be a valuable source of confidence for taking on major elective projects later in the year. |
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Syllabus |
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Intended learning outcomes |
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
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Teaching team
You will be taught by a wide-range of subject specialists from Cranfield with support from industrial professionals who draw on their expertise and industrial experience to provide stimulating and relevant input to the learning experience. The Admissions Tutor and Course Director is Paul Lighterness
How to apply
Online application form. UK students are normally expected to attend an interview and financial support is best discussed at this time. Overseas and EU students may be interviewed by telephone.