Industrial Design Projects and Careers

Student Projects

The students are provided work spaces in a studio environment where they can accomplish their assignments and complete their projects. Both junior and senior studio spaces are equipped with personal desks, wireless high speed internet, personal storage units, and furniture. Each studio also has a sink, microwave, and refrigerator.

The facility also has a well equipped shop with both wood- and metal machinery, a walk-in paint booth, along with courses that teach the use of these tools. Additional facilities within the Engineering and Design Department that are available to students as they enroll in the respective support courses. These labs include CNC machining, rapid prototyping, injection molding, composite materials, electronics, and soft-tooling labs.

ID Senior Project 2020

ID Junior Show 2018

A picture of company logos that employ ID graduates including NIke, HP, Xbox, and Microsoft

The job market for Western's Industrial Design graduates is very good. Students are given a broad, hands-on education in industrial design, preparing them for a diverse selection of jobs. For more Employment information on Alumni, you can view Employment Survey Results for Recent Graduates. (look for Industrial Design under the College of Science & Engineering)

Alumni Employment

Jr Industrial Designer at LOUD Audio
Design Director at Tactile
Director of Design at Oculus
Principal Director of Design - Device Design Team at Microsoft
Designer at Zibaopen_in_new(opens in new window), and Tether Inc.
Vice President at TEAGUE
Industrial Designer at True FabricationsArchitectural Elements, and Burn Design Lab
Designer & Boat Builder at NuCanoe

Industrial Design Studio Space and Equipment

An image of the tool wall in the ID lab

Shop Equipment

  • Bandsaws, tablesaws, scroll saw,
    chop saw & panel saw
  • Wood lathes
  • Metal mill & lathe
  • Router
  • Planer & joiner
  • CNC Router
  • Drill Presses
  • Disc, belt & spindle sanders
  • Drills & Dremels
  • Chisels, files, hand saws
    & other hand tools
  • Soldering Irons
  • Paint Booth
  • Sandblaster
  • Sheet metal break, shear,
    corner shear & punches
  • Hot Wire Cutters
  • Oven
  • Heat Guns
and image of the senior ID studio space

Studio Equipment

  • Light Booth
  • 3D Printer
  • Laser Cutter
  • Light Tables
  • Cutting Mats
  • Hot Glue Guns
  • White Boards
  • Projectors
  • Paper
  • Printers