Why Industrial Design in Eindhoven?

In addition to self-directed education with intensive coaching, the Industrial Design master’s degree program at TU/e is characterized by the following.

Societal transformation

If you choose to enroll in the Industrial Design master’s degree program, you will be empowered to achieve real change. You can do this at two levels, linked to two research groups in the department.

Future Everyday aims to create a bridge between emerging technologies and people’s daily lives. How can we translate new technologies into new products, systems and services that connect seamlessly to daily life – at home, at work, on the road, while playing sports and out on the town? Systemic Change aims to design innovations at a community level, with the goal to tackle major issues such as urban health, mobility and sustainability.

Unique design projects

Your first design project will take place within the ‘squad’ structure of the department. A squad is a group in which you work with fellow students, scientific staff, experts from the field, companies and organizations on a specific societal theme or application domain. This way, education and research are integrated, with a close relationship with the professional world. No gap between theory and practice!

To see which themes we are currently working on, check the squad overview page. After the first semester, you will start shaping your graduation project from in this squad structure.

Intelligent systems, products and services

As a student, you will go beyond traditional product design: you will learn to design products and systems that can communicate intelligently and are interactive and sometimes adaptive. Products and systems like that can connect the physical and digital worlds. You will design applications for the latest emerging technologies.

Tight-knit international community

In this English-language master’s degree program, you will be guided by international staff and work together with foreign students. Thanks to contacts with companies such as Philips, Toyota and Adidas and educational institutes within Europe and far beyond, we can optimally respond to international developments. The TU/e Industrial Design community is not just international but also close-knit, thanks to student association Lucid and the collaborations within squads and master’s degree tracks – communities of students who are looking to graduate with similar specializations.

The city and region of Eindhoven

Eindhoven is located in the technological heart of the Netherlands, known as Brainport. Brainport makes substantial contributions to the national industrial export figures and generates almost 40% of all patents registered in the Netherlands each year. The region is home to many high tech companies of international stature, such as Philips, DAF Trucks and ASML. Eindhoven University of Technology collaborates with these companies, which offer students internship opportunities and job prospects.

Eindhoven is a true design city. In addition to the TU/e Industrial Design department, it has the Design Academy, the Dutch Design Week and a vibrant, creative industry which offers a great climate for innovative startups. For our high-performing students, the TU/e exhibition during the Dutch Design week is a great platform to share their project with thousands of visitors.

Please note: if you are applying for the pre-master program of Industrial Design, we will also ask you to provide this information.