PhD in Design

Nov 25, 2024

Doctoral Students Showcase Work through Design Probes: Research Strands

On November 21, the College of Design's doctoral programs brought together practitioners from the Doctor of Design and PhD in Design programs to showcase their outstanding research in a poster session and review titled "Design Probes: Research Strands." Students bridge academia and practice across diverse design fields, and the event showcased the collaborative ecosystem that spans the college's four departments and fosters a vibrant environment for interdisciplinary perspectives.

Nov 12, 2024

Cultivating Design Solutions with Green Heffa Farms

In the spring of 2024, PhD student and instructor Erin White brought students from his D101 Design Thinking course to solve multiple challenges faced at Green Heffa Farms. The students, many of whom are not design majors, addressed challenges such as storage issues, workflow efficiency and social media strategy.

Jul 30, 2024

Newton D’Souza to lead doctoral programs for the College of Design

Newton D’Souza, PhD will head up a new doctoral programs unit within the College of Design at North Carolina State University, effective August 12, 2024. D’Souza will oversee the two doctoral programs offered by the college, a traditional PhD in Design program and a hybrid Doctor of Design degree.

Dec 12, 2023

Breaking the Stereotype: Using AI to Support Diversity in STEM

Ashley Anderson's research looks at why there aren't as many Black students earning degrees in STEM fields, and is looking at how generative AI can be used a tool to foster diversity and belonging.

Apr 26, 2023

Celebrating Alumni + Friends Weekend and the Designlife Gala

The College of Design celebrated Alumni + Friends Weekend and the Designlife Gala on April 21-22, 2023. The college was delighted to see so many friendly faces back on campus, touring our studios, and connecting with former classmates and colleagues at the reunions by the decade. The weekend's events culminated with the Designlife Gala at the JC Raulston Arboretum on Saturday night.

Jan 18, 2023

75 Years of Leading by Design: College of Design Celebrates a Momentous Milestone

The College of Design celebrates its 75th anniversary throughout 2023 with a series of lectures, events, alumni weekends, and more.

Jun 27, 2022

2022 Designlife Magazine

Read about the people and activities featured in the 2022 issue of Designlife Magazine.

Jun 17, 2022

Can We Reverse the Rise in Maternal Mortality?

Two Ph.D. students from the College of Design joined a team of UNC-Chapel Hill doctoral candidates and won the 2022 Map the System Competition in Chapel Hill. Now, they are headed to Oxford University to compete against research teams from around the globe.

May 18, 2022

Celebrating Another Successful Day of Giving

The College of Design celebrated another successful Day of Giving on March 23, 2022 thanks to the generous gifts of donors, alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends, all of whom believe in the importance of design education. Thanks to your support, the college was able to raise $474,885 from 373 gifts, exceeding last year’s 309 gifts by 21%.

May 7, 2022

Ph.D. Graduate Shares Her Journey From Program Acceptance to Assistant Professor

Meichun Liu, a recent graduate, shares her story from acceptance in the Ph.D. in Design program at NC State to landing a tenure-track assistant professor position at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. She shares tips for success after graduation and talks about her discovery of the program and her research focus.

Apr 14, 2022

An Update on the Allred Gallery Floor

The floor of the Allred Gallery in Kamphoefner Hall was inspired by the work of well-known architect Le Corbusier. As we learn more about the history of this designer from contemporary research, we are learning more about his unfortunate ties to groups that excluded and persecuted others. The values held by Le Corbusier, particularly those of homophobia, misogyny, and fascism, are not held by the College of Design. Our mission is to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for any individual who enters our space to work and learn. 

Jan 7, 2022

From A-to-Z: Lesley-Ann Noel and Decolonizing Design

Assistant Professor of Art + Design Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel aims to bring underrepresented voices into everyday design education through social innovation, inclusive community-led research and public health solutions. By creating tools such as the Designer’s Critical Alphabet and the “Who Am I” Positionality Wheel, she is making conversations around race and bias more common in classrooms and workplaces.

Dec 3, 2020

Congratulations, Graduates!

For our 2020 graduates, this year's commencement ceremony was like no other. It began with a video of Dean Hoversten searching the campus for our students. Then, the department heads shared words of encouragement with the students, commending them for their outstanding work this year.

Jul 17, 2020

From Architecture to Augmented Reality

A lack of access to information, language barriers, excessive time costs and a poor implementation of two-way communication methods are just a few of the reasons why residents across the country don’t speak up during public municipal government hearings. These reasons not only affect how communities develop and are granted resources, but they also have a direct correlation to the health and well-being of certain neighborhoods.

Jun 9, 2020

Black Lives Matter

The College of Design continues to be saddened and angered by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others who are unjustly murdered based on the color of their skin. We cannot let this continue to happen. Furthermore, we cannot let our profession, one which is predominately white, remain silent on…

May 15, 2020

New Ph.D. Students Present Their Research Areas

Four Ph.D. students in the College of Design Ph.D. program successfully presented their research interest areas on May 7 to over 50 members of faculty, staff, and students in the College of Design. The presentation of research interest areas is an introductory presentation for first-year students and introduces these individuals to the Ph.D. community. The…

Apr 10, 2020

Lizabeth Wardzinski: The Love for Building with Purpose

Lizabeth Wardzinski, a PhD candidate at the College of Design, has recently been awarded the Dumbarton Oaks Junior Fellowship in Urban Landscape Studies for the 2020-21 academic year. The fellowship program is widely considered a leader in fostering research in the humanities and provides substantial financial and academic resources over the course of nine months so candidates can focus solely on their studies.

May 9, 2019

Keep the Shiny Side Up

Associate Dean of the College of Design Sharon Joines, PhD, has always strived to improve the lives of others, and she brings that vision to her leadership role at the NC State College of Design.

Apr 25, 2019

2019 Design Employee Excellence Awards

The College of Design proudly honored faculty and staff on April 23, 2019. Congratulations to all of the winners, and thank you for all that you do to make the NC State College of Design a place of innovation and excellence.

Jan 7, 2019

Through a Child’s Eyes

Making the idea and application of virtual reality for children as young as kindergarten is something that Derek Ham set out to do. With Panoform, this free downloadable app, that is exactly what transpired.

Dec 6, 2018

Everyone is a Designer: Tangible Landscape Democratizes Design

Payam Tabrizian, PhD is using research and technology in the Geovisualization Lab to provide an open-source platform of research and data to change the way people experience and develop spaces and landscapes.

Nov 16, 2018

Impacting Education with Design Thinking

Lesley Ann Noel (PhD '18) wants to leverage her design research to transform the way elementary schools educate their students.

Oct 29, 2018

Launching the Doctor of Design Program: A Collaborative Journey

NC State College of Design launched the only online Doctor of Design program in the country. This flexibility is intended to converge technology, innovation, and academic rigor to create an effective program with a focus design investigation. Learn about the making of this program.

Jul 1, 2018

Sharon Joines named Associate Dean of the College of Design

Sharon Joines, PhD has been named as the Associate Dean of the NC State College of Design, announced by Dean Mark Hoversten.

Apr 12, 2018

Using Virtual Reality to Plot Urban Green Spaces

Research with VR goggles gives landscape designers fresh insight on how green landscapes refresh city residents.

Mar 22, 2018

The 13th Annual Graduate Student Research Symposium

NC State Design was represented by thirteen Graduate students at this year's Graduate Student Research Symposium. The event includes more than 200 graduate students from across the University. Each poster submission is judged by a team of faculty and showcases outstanding quality and diversity of graduate research.

Oct 20, 2017

Design Team Participates in LexisNexis Hackathon

Students from NC State Design recently participated in the annual LexisNexis Hackathon. Teams work around 5 problem statements to improve or extend the functionality of existing LexisNexis software products

Mar 10, 2017

Rider Proposal Receives Substantial Grant

Traci Rider, PhD recently received one of eight research studies from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) as a part of the Engaging Businesses for Health project.

Oct 24, 2016

Making Connections Between the LAR Archive and the College of Design

Faculty and students are working in collaboration with NCSU Libraries to identify opportunities to connect the Landscape Architecture archive to specific class projects and to scholarly research.

Jun 17, 2016

Sonika Rawal: The Impact of Urban Park Design on Recovery from Stress

Sonika Rawal, a PhD in Design student, successfully defended her dissertation which took an interdisciplinary focus through Design and Natural Resources. Click the article link to read her dissertation abstract.

Jun 16, 2016

Presentations by PhD Candidates from College of Design at the EAAE-ARCC

Ozlem Demir, a PhD in Design candidate, co-authored two papers with NC State Design faculty which she presented at the EAAE/ARCC International Conference in Lisbon, Portugal. The EAAE/ARCC Conferences began at the NC State Design in 1998, and is now held every two years in a different location around the world.

Feb 15, 2016

Design with a Capital “D”

NC State Design welcomes a new faculty member Dr. Derek Ham, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, to the Wolfpack family.

Jan 25, 2016

Volunteers Needed for PhD in Design Research

NC State Design needs your help! Graduate students are in need of participants for a design inspired research study. The results may enable designers to create urban parks that are not only supportive of physical activity but also promote mental well-being.

Dec 14, 2015

Why Should Designers Care About Empathy?

Empathy is instrumental in achieving our goal as designers, which is to improve people’s quality of life. This is achieved through responding to their situation by creating solutions that resonate with their unique realities.