Master of Design (MDes)

The University of British Columbia’s Master of Design (MDes) is a 12-month, full-time, in-person professional graduate program that prepares students to address real-world challenges through design thinking, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Designed for students from diverse academic backgrounds, the program combines technical and creative disciplines to develop meaningful solutions in collaboration with industry, community, and public sector partners. Through interdisciplinary, problem-based learning, students explore human-centred design, ethical innovation, visualization, and project management.

The program offers a collaborative, cohort-based learning environment with personalized guidance from faculty across engineering and creative disciplines. Students progress from problem exploration and stakeholder engagement to prototyping, implementation, and advanced solution development. Emphasizing social responsibility, cultural awareness, and sustainable impact, the MDes program prepares graduates to bridge technical and creative fields and pursue leadership opportunities in areas such as product management, design strategy, innovation, and product and design leadership.

Admission Requirements

• Bachelor’s degrees in engineering, technical, business, or creative and arts backgrounds.

What You’ll Learn

• Apply design thinking to solve complex, real-world challenges.
• Develop creative, human-centred solutions through prototyping and testing.
• Build skills in innovation, entrepreneurship, and project management.
• Collaborate with industry and community partners to create sustainable impact.