Program Details
From the refillable water bottle on your desk to the shared bike at the corner, industrial designers shape the world around us. By designing the experience-based features, materials and interfaces of the products, services and systems we rely on, they influence how people care, connect and thrive.
Carleton’s bachelor of industrial design students learn to work with government, business, community and academic research partners to design real solutions that explore sustainable, human-centered innovations and emerging futures.
Labs and Facilities
The Bachelor of Industrial Design is a studio-based program that intertwines theory and application throughout all four years of study. At Carleton, you will have access to some of the best academic industrial design facilities on the continent. These include:
- Wood, plastic and metal prototyping labs
- Soft goods lab (which includes industrial sewing machines)
- Digital fabrication lab (such as laser cutting, 3D scanning and CNC machining equipment)
- Maker space with cutting-edge 3D printing machines
Work Experience
Graduates work at large, well-known organizations in Canada, the United States, Europe and beyond. Students in the program learn to balance multiple design projects through course assignments that include drawings, models, storyboards, mock-ups and prototypes of simulated products, services and systems.
Co-Op
Carleton offers students a paid Co-op option with work terms of 4, 6, 8, 12 or 16 months.
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Career Outcomes
Explore your passions, refine new skills and discover the career that’s right for you.
Our graduates can be found working as entrepreneurs and consultants, as well as in design teams at major national and international companies including Autodesk, Canadian Tire, Google, Fitbit, the Government of Canada, MEC, IBM, the Luminaires Group, Umbra, Teknion, StarFish Medical and Spin Master Toys. You can also continue your studies by completing a Master of Design at Carleton.
Sample Courses
IDES 1000 - Theory and History of Design
The theoretical and historical background of industrial design and design; disciplinary foundations and interdisciplinary connections; methodological aspects and economic and social contexts; contemporary scenarios in design; technological innovation and manufacturing processes.
IDES 4200 - Form Organization
Using form organization as a tool to design, the definition and prescription of monolithic solids by means of an abstract system; making and verifying materialized approximations of such solids.
Visit the Undergraduate Calendar to view a comprehensive list of course offerings for this program and discover the exciting things Carleton students are learning in the classroom!
Program Events
View all EventsI chose to study Industrial Design at Carleton because of how unique, intimate and amazing the program is. Industrial Design takes my enjoyment of problem solving and incorporates my passion for art and design. Personally, I have grown so much as a designer and as a person though this program and my involvement with CIDSA (Carleton Industrial Design Student Association).
