In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design was folded into Illinois Tech's School of Design & Society.
This website is an archive of the impactful and inspirational work produced by the ID community before that transition.

László Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937, treating design as a discipline that was teachable, testable, and consequential. Nine decades on, its scope had widened from the things people use to the systems they depend on: hospitals, government agencies, classrooms, supply chains, digital platforms. Along the way, ID community members developed the published research, methods, and frameworks that designers rely on every day.

Chief among them is human-centered design: close attention to how people actually live, and advocacy for what that research reveals. It shaped designers who are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: curious, rigorous, inclusive, and stubbornly optimistic about design's ability to change the systems that shape our lives.

To every one of them, who taught, studied, built, critiqued, and stayed late in the studio: thank you, and keep designing.

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Design Showcase

Shapeshift Summit: Design Showcase

From interactive learning tools that bring design theory to life, to synthetic data solutions addressing educational inequity—see how ID students and faculty are pioneering responsible AI innovation.

Thursday, May 29

ID Student Showcase

Student Project Showcase: Ask Chuck

Location: Steelcase East

An interactive digital learning experience exploring design innovation through Charles Owen’s legacy.

Join us for an innovative, hands-on session that brings Professor Charles Owen’s foundational design theories to life through interactive digital learning. This session demonstrates how AI-powered educational tools can enhance understanding of complex design concepts and methodologies. Participants will leave with insights into both Owen’s design theory and the potential of AI-assisted learning tools to make complex academic concepts more accessible and engaging for students and professionals. The project demo is powered by the new Ocular View technology by Steelcase.

Student Project Showcase: Synthetic Data for Equitable and Just AI

Location: Steelcase West

AI systems often suffer from significant data gaps, particularly when serving vulnerable and marginalized populations. Synthetic data, artificially generated datasets that mimic real-world data patterns while preserving privacy, offers a promising solution to these representation challenges.

This presentation by ID alum Salena Burke (PhD 2024) explores how synthetic data can bridge these gaps through a case study addressing educational inequity and supporting career exposure for African American male students. The discussion examines the growing role of designers in AI development processes, and how design practitioners can contribute meaningfully to creating more equitable AI systems. Attendees will gain insights into creating more equitable AI training datasets, while addressing privacy concerns and responsibly engaging diverse populations.

Friday, May 30

Faculty Startups Showcase & Immersions

Faculty Startup Showcase: TrustVector

Location: Steelcase West

The AI revolution is here. Is your organization poised to lead, or is it vulnerable to its significant risk: from costly biases and regulatory missteps to diminished public trust?

Join TrustVector co-founders Dr. Sonja Petrović (Chief Scientific Officer & Illinois Tech Professor of Applied Mathematics and Statistics) and Aleksandar Jevtic (CEO & IEEE Standards Association Lead AI Ethics Assessor) in this focused, high-impact session, where they will distill their extensive experience into five indispensable evaluations every leader must champion before deploying AI. Equip your leadership with a clear blueprint to convert AI’s transformative potential into responsible, tangible value and secure a sustainable innovation edge.

Faculty Startup Showcase: Baigon Inc.

Location: Steelcase West

Explore breakthrough AI applications in drug development. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large class of proteins targeted by about one-third of approved drugs. Most of these drugs were designed to turn receptor signals on or off, which can cause nasty side effects. Fortunately, chemical messages that can be transmitted through the receptors are much more subtle and multidimensional.

Dr. David Minh (Chief Scientific Officer & Illinois Tech Robert E. Frey, Jr. Endowed Chair in Chemistry) and his team at Baigon trained AI as a translator of chemical messages from a drug to signals inside a cell. The AI is interpretable to help design drugs that send messages that promote healing without adverse side effects.

Immersion Recap: Shapeshift Immersion Day One

Location: Steelcase East

This demo will offer participants a perspective on immersions as an important and evolving method in the design profession, and why direct “analog” experiences have never been more relevant in a digital era.

Participants will get the first peek at learnings and insights from Shapeshift’s Responsible AI immersion that took place earlier this week.

Murmur Ring Founder Ashley Lukasik, Director of the Executive Academy at ID Tony Bynum, and veteran designer and technologist Albert Shum, will discuss how and why immersions facilitate deep and nuanced understanding of emerging, complex issues. The discussion will center on how immersions can be used to build community, shift mindsets, and catalyze strategy.

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