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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Students Lead Summer Shareout

ID Graduate Students Take the Reins and Extend Their Learning Through Summer Experiences

By Roger Hong

November 6, 2024

At the beginning of the fall semester, the Institute of Design witnessed an inspiring student-led initiative called Summer ShareOut. This event, organized by Tanvi Waghray (MDes 2025) and Sanjana Kumar (MDes 2025), provided a platform for students to share their summer internship experiences, job searches, and project insights with their peers.

“
We wanted to create a space to learn and share. The highlight for me was how open and honest everyone was about their struggles and wins; it reflected how strong our community is.
—Tanvi Waghray (MDes 2025)

Diverse Experiences

The event showcased a variety of internship experiences across different sectors:

Apple: Human Interface Systems Design

Tanvi Waghray shared her experience as a Human Interface Systems Designer at Apple. Her internship involved:

  • Deep exploration of Apple’s design systems
  • Working on pixel-perfect designs for components used by billions
  • Contributing to design system practices to improve workflows
  • Fostering effective cross-functional collaboration

Tanvi emphasized the culture of curiosity at Apple, the responsibility of decision-making, the importance of precision in design, and the value of effective collaboration between designers and engineers.

Taiwan Immersion Program

Samantha Chandra participated in the Taiwan Immersion Program (TIP), sponsored by the Far Eastern Group. This six-week design project in Taipei involved:

  • Immersive collaboration between the ID team, Professor Martin Thaler, fellow students Bhavani Shivaram Prasad and Han Wen (Vanessa) Chang, and the in-house innovation team, Drive team members, of the Far Eastern Group in Taipei.
  • Research and development of a service blueprint for wellness and mental health service.
  • Collaborative workshop with client teams.
  • Presentation to the President of Far EasTone Telecommunication.

UChicago Medicine: Service Design

Sanjana Kumar worked as a Service Designer at UChicago Medicine, collaborating with Kim Erwin (Associate Professor of Healthcare Design and Director of the Equitable Healthcare Lab) and Meghna Prakash (Assistant Director and Design Researcher at the Equitable Healthcare Lab) to design for postpartum care and patient education.

Other Internships

Internship Search Strategies

Students shared various approaches to securing internships:

  • Early and widespread applications
  • Networking and reaching out to professionals in target companies
  • Building connections within desired industries

Showcasing Talent and Building Connections with recruitID

Career Support