Advanced design

The 2nd cycle degree programme aims to trainexpert designers in design innovation for the creation of new products andservices (product-service systems).Consistently with this general objective,the main characteristic of the degree programme is its multidisciplinarynature, allowing 2nd cycle graduates to acquire competences and knowledgerelating to:

- product and service innovation processes;
- the planning and management ofstrategic design projects in production contexts;
- production processes and majorindustrial technologies (from materials to interactive processes, and needsrelating to distribution, use and divestment);
- ICT technologies (from the designof usable interfaces to the design of interactive digital services);
- digital manufacturing processesand technologies;
- current cultural phenomena and related social changes.

Given the broad range of objectives, theprogramme is organised into various sub-curricula, focusing on productinnovation, with particular reference to contemporary industrial contexts, orthe design of intangible products and services in tertiary organisations andurban public services. Given the broad range of topics and themultidisciplinary nature of the knowledge and competences, the Degree Programmeincludes a consistent part of workshop activities. Each workshop focuses on aqualifying dimension of design: the process, the technologies, the structures,systems, perception and representation. With a choice of design and researchtopics, workshops become the setting for developing the exploratory andexperimental nature of these graduates, improving methods and instruments towork in design even marked by high complexity and highly innovative solutions.
This core area of the curriculum,covering Design and Multimedia Communication, is integrated from year one (withdifferent weights according to the chosen curriculum), with learning activitiesin technological and engineering subjects as well as human and social sciences,helping to acquire the knowledge needed to understand key design constraints.In this sense, the Degree Programme offers the possibility to develop thecompetences required to work as productand process designer or servicesdesigner.
In the case of product design,the core part of the Degree Programme is supported by monographic course unitsmainly in technological and engineering subjects; while for services design,the programme includes mainly monographic course units in human and socialsciences, psychology and economics. The monographic theory course units aim toenhance the students' specialist engineering and production knowledge, as wellas cultural guidance skills. In year two, the programme focuses on theconsolidation of design practices, again specifically applied to innovative andsustainable products and systems or innovative, participatory services.
The Degree Programme pays great importance to design research, and thiscompetence is developed by students particularly in the final laboratory inyear two, aiming to study a design issue aiming to become the basis for thefinal research work, assessed during the final examination.
The key learning areas of theDegree Programme are:

1. Advanced design understood as theintegration between the formal and cultural qualities of products and theexpression, symbols and meanings of the produced goods andservices.
2. The relationship betweendesign and feasibility, i.e. the dimension linked to advanced productionprocesses, digital production technologies, new materials and the so-called"4.0" evolution of the production chain.
3. The centrality of the“product-system”, understood as design seeking to connect the material andphysical dimension with the intangible and communicative dimension of theservice of every product, user involvement and the collaboration between allthe different types of knowledge that help to produce it.
4. The continuous integrationbetween product and user behaviour: man at the centre of design, not only inits ergonomic dimension but also in the mental dimension and in itsinterpersonal relationship.
5. The proper use of design technologies, representation and production.

Admission to the 2nd cycle/master's degreeprogramme in Advanced Design requires possession of a bachelor's degree orthree-year university diploma, or any other degree obtained abroad, recognizedas suitable. Additionally, candidates must meet the curricular requirements andpass the assessment of personal knowledge and skills.

Curricular requirements:

A first cycle degree in one of the followingclasses:

- ex Italian Ministerial Decree no. 270:

L-3 (Drama,Art and Music studies, Fashion studies or AFAM equivalent title)
L-4 (Industrial Design)
L-7 (Civil and Environmental Engineering)
L-8 (Information Engineering) L-9 (Industrial Engineering)
L-17 (Architecture Sciences)
L-23 (Building Techniques and Sciences)

- ex. Italian Ministerial Decree no. 509/99
4 (Architecture and BuildingEngineering Sciences)
8 (Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering)
10(Industrial Engineering)
42 (Industrial Design)

- Corresponding degree from a previous system.

- Knowledge of English level B1.

Admission to the 2nd cycle degree programme isalso subject to the assessment of the students' personal competences and skills.The methods for verifying the knowledge required for admission are defined inthe degree programme teaching regulations.
The assessment of the students' personal competences and skills, basedon their prior studies and the possession of indispensable knowledge andcompetences for profitably tackling the programme, with particular referenceto:

· Design, representationlanguages: drawing, automatic drawing, graphic design, photography, videofootage, modelling and virtual modelling;

· Knowledge of theories,processes and methods of the designing of products, services and communicativeartifacts;

· General and technicalfeasibility of artifacts and services;

· History and culture ofdesign;

· General characteristicsof materials;

· Ability to advance andverify hypothesis thorough logical and experimental argumentation

Candidates must also demonstrate knowledge ofthe English language Level B1.