Students explore a showcase of Bio-Inspired Artwork during an open house on this Design Bloc course.

Opportunities for Incoming Students

Opportunities for Incoming Students

New to Tech? We'd like to welcome you to apply to our Design Bloc Living Learning Community (DB LLC). Through Housing and Residence Life, we built an introductory program, a set of courses that connect you with teammates from across majors to tackle real-world problems and engage with creative professionals. Take a class, work with a creative community and expand your frame of reference! We're happy to have you here at Design Bloc. 

A table full of students build physical low-fidelity prototypes during a workshop in Design Bloc's GT-1000 course.

GT1000, Intro to Design Behaviors

GT1000-DTI

Interested in tackling your transition to Tech with Design Behaviors?

This course focuses on introducing design thinking and innovation to freshmen at Georgia Tech. Taught by a design professional, this design thinking -themed section of GT1000 will connect you with students from across disciplines in hands-on workshop sessions. 

Find the -DTI section of GT1000 during course-registration at FASET!

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Design Empathy: Mini-mester (5 weeks)

ID2801-EM 1/2

This course provides an intensive, five-week seminar on the importance of empathy (cognitive, emotional and compassionate concern), foundational to the overall practice of human-centered design. Whether you’re creating a new product, service, entrepreneurial activity, non-profit initiative, or personal piece of art, this course provides the methods / mindsets necessary to empathize with your audience. As one of the key design behaviors which support the design process and methodology practiced within Design Bloc, this mini-mester will help students build a more comprehensive understanding of how to effectively engage with user-groups, stakeholders, and customers.

Taught by Sara Martin, Melissa Heffner, Chris Chapman and Shane Owens

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Contextual Awareness: Mini-mester (5 wks)

ID2801-CA(1/2)

This course provides an intensive, five-week seminar of a value that is not only integral to meaningful design-thinking, but foundational to the overall practice of human-centered design. Contextual Inquiry is at the heart of understanding human systems, society, creation and production of goods and services. As one of the key design behaviors which support the design process and methodology practiced within Design Bloc, this mini-mester will teach students contextual inquiry, systems analysis, and design production.

Taught by Sara Martin, Melissa Heffner, Chris Chapman and Shane Owens

Design Bloc + VIP

The Vertically Integrated Projects Program at Georgia Tech offers students the opportunity to contribute to long-term, multidisciplinary projects for academic credit, which is an optional course, often offered in spring semester (depending on project availability). 

Design Bloc’s VIP studio course challenges student teams to apply design thinking within real-world client projects with industry and non-profits in the Atlanta area. This studio approach allows students to gain professional experience in a design project with mentorship from Design Bloc staff.

No prior design experience is required, and Georgia Tech undergraduates from all majors and years are invited to apply. 

Credit counts can vary. Application and permit required to register. 

Apply for VIP Permit Register on Buzzport

Reach Out to Us

Whether you're a student looking to join our team, or an organization seeking to introduce your workforce to design-thinking techniques, we want to hear from you. Connect with us!   

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