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Northwestern University

Design Thinking & Communication

Use design thinking to attack potentially unsolvable problems

Design Thinking & Communication (DTC)

Design Thinking and Communication (DTC), is a required two-quarter course for all first-year students at Northwestern Engineering. DTC is a cross-school course jointly taught by faculty throughout the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Cook Family Writing Program.

An innovative course that embeds communication instruction in the context of design, DTC immediately puts students to work on real design problems submitted by individuals, non-profits, entrepreneurs, and industry members. In DTC, all students design for real people and communicate to real audiences.

DTC was introduced in 1997 as part of the Engineering First® curriculum. This curriculum created a new pedagogy for engineering education and has been nominated for a National Academy of Engineering award for educational excellence and featured in the Wall Street Journal.

Course Objectives

DTC student teams integrate communication skills and design thinking while they:

Faculty

Co-taught by faculty throughout the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and from the Cook Family Writing Program in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, DTC teaches the writing and presentation skills needed to thrive in a competitive marketplace.

Contact Us

If you have additional questions about DTC, please email Bayleigh Smith or call us at 847-467-1604.

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