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Design and Technology Futures (D&TF) is for a new generation of radical innovators, design leaders and change makers who have a drive for meaningful impact on the world. By merging the competences and skills of technology and design, students learn how to develop products, services and environments that are economically viable, technically feasible and socially preferable, thereby creating a better future
The international curriculum has been developed as a collaborative effort by the Tallinn University of Technology and the Estonian Academy of Arts.
Design and Technology Futures is aimed at young graduates of design and engineering disciplines who are eager to continue their education. Our cross-disciplinary programme merges technological competence with design skills. We look at engineering and design in very broad terms and are open to all enthusiastic students from a wide range of competences.
The aim of the curriculum is to combine different disciplines and prepare students for design-led innovation, possible only through interdisciplinary cooperation. Our focus is on how to deal with complex problems and develop value-creating concepts. Our project are typically more complex and rooted deeper in user fundamental needs than most regular product development courses. Our Design Studio projects put the knowledge gained from other subjects into practice tying together the whole curriculum. Students learn to work in interdisciplinary teams, find and describe problems in difficult real life scenarios and find out how to create value and sell the ideas to different stakeholders of these complex systems.
As we seek students with very different backgrounds, they will also pursue various career paths. Students of engineering develop an understanding of the power of design skills so they may act as leaders of development, while students of design refine their skills and competence for running multidisciplinary creative teams. All students are taught to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Whatever our students go on to do, they are valuable team members even during difficult projects with fuzzy goals.
The curriculum draws from three fields: design, technology and entrepreneurship. During their first year of study, students learn how to work as members of multidisciplinary creative teams, how to mix and match their skills with people who have a very different understanding of the task at hand, how to bind together the findings, how to run user-focused research and pin-point opportunities, create clear concepts and communicate these to industry or government partners.
By the second year, students practice leading small creative teams, learn to deal with complex systems, develop innovative concepts and communicate results in a tight timeframe with limited resources and often with tasks set outside their natural comfort zones.
Students learn how to use and mix methods from different fields of study and to make coherent projects in a team with widely scattered skillsets.
Application deadlines:
- 15. March – Application deadline for Non-EU Citizens
- 15. April – Application deadline for citizens from Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA
- 15. May – Application deadline for citizens from EU/EEA countries and non-EU candidates who are residing in Estonia on a legal basis.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in technology, design or innovation fields
- Official transcript of records (translated into Estonian, English or Russian and notarised)
- Proof of English proficiency
- Portfolio
- Motivation letter
- Letter of recommendation is not required
- 100€ application fee (paid via bank transfer)
More info: http://designtechfutures.eu/apply/
Several scholarship options available: https://www.taltech.ee/en/scholarships
Who are we looking for?
Design & Technology Futures is open to all enthusiastic students from a wide range of competencies, including graduates of various design, engineering, technology and innovation disciplines. We look for individuals who are motivated to become leaders of their time, ready to work in transdisciplinary and multicultural teams developing innovative concepts, willing to tackle the complexities and uncertainties of the current day in order to design a new and better future.
We are awaiting applicants to present their creativity, skills and enthusiasm in the application process.
What are your career prospects?
As we seek students with very different backgrounds, they will also pursue various career paths. Students of engineering develop an understanding of the power of design skills so they may act as leaders of development, while students of design refine their skills and competence in running multidisciplinary creative teams. All students are taught to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Whatever our students go on to do, they are valuable team members even during difficult projects with fuzzy goals. The paths of our alumni range from successful entrepreneurs to creative directors, development engineers or design thinkers in global corporations.
