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College of Design
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Sponsored Studios

Partner with us to bring real-world challenges into the classroom.

Collaborative Research, Design and Design + Build Projects are an integral element for the College of Design. Faculty and students are exposed to unique client-facing opportunities that challenge them to develop real-world solutions to actual projects. Most of these studios are interdisciplinary and include designers, engineers, developers, and business professionals that collaborate on practical and meaningful research + design projects in the studios.

BD MedicalJohn DeereRepublic Wireless
BioventusIBMSAS Accessibility Team
CaterpillarJLGSealed Air
Coca ColaLenovoBosch Appliances
Collins AerospaceLowe’sTechnibilt
Cree LightingNorth Carolina Museum of Natural SciencesTTi
Eastman ChemicalNC State FoundationUniversity of North Carolina Health Care
Georgia PacificNC State University HousingNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill Medical Center and UNC Rex Healthcare
Golf PrideNC State Real Estate & DevelopmentUnder Armour
HanesNational Civil Rights MuseumVictoria + Albert
James Hunt LibraryParata SystemsWebAssign

Interested in Partnering on a Sponsored Studio?

Contact one of our department heads below to start the conversation.

MC
Meg Calkins, FASLA, FCELA

Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

(919) 515-8342
DH
Derek Ham
Derek Ham, Ph.D.

Department Head of Media Arts, Design and Technology, Associate Professor of Media, Arts, Design and Technology

DH
David Hill
David Hill, FAIA

Head of the School of Architecture; Professor of Architecture; Co-Director, Coastal Dynamics Design Lab

919-741-1743
TL
Tsailu Liu
Tsailu Liu

Professor and Department Head of Graphic Design + Industrial Design

919-515-8593

Sponsored Studio Stories

A computer screen shows different take-out containers with food inside.

Design Students Develop Compostable Take-Out Container Prototypes in Project Sponsored by Eastman

To combat packaging waste, NC State’s College of Design worked alongside Eastman to create food packaging with a new compostable material.

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Secondary Packaging design

Rethinking the Box

Graphic Designs students in GD 400 studio (Advanced Graphic Design Studio) were challenged to develop customizable secondary packaging through a collaborative partnership with Sealed Air. Thinking beyond traditional design to re-imagine and improve the experience.

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Multidisciplinary Teamwork Helps Bring New ASSIST Technology to Market

Teams of students gear up across campus at NC State at the start of each school year for practicum course projects that will bring real world perspective to the classroom.

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Industrial Design Senior Sage Cofield works on a project sponsored by Eastman.

Sustainability by Design

Students are gaining real-world experience while reducing waste in a new project sponsored by Eastman. The company challenged NC State industrial design seniors in the College of Design to create consumer products with sustainability top of mind. 

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Accessibility in Design

Graphic Design students in GD 417 partnered with SAS and the Duke Eye Center to develop an accessible software for product users with visual impairments.

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A Solution by Design

Jennifer Peavey [MID ’16], has worked for Eastman Chemical Company for more than six years and possesses a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Clemson University and recently added another degree to her name: Master of Industrial Design. As a member of Eastman’s Innovation Group, which she describes as “an incubator” for research and development, Peavey has been challenged with refocusing her groups ability to collaborate with other brands.

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