Call for Projects

Call for Design Studio Projects

As Design Studio is coming to a close for 2018 – 2019, we are already looking towards 2019 – 2020.  Our search for Design Studio partners is underway and will continue through the summer.  We hope that you can help us in this search.  We know we will have at least 17 projects, and potentially more depending on how many rock star Associates we are able to recruit.

We know all of you have been working hard and doing amazing things in your careers and industries since your time in Design Studio and the Raikes School.  We also know that even if you’re not specifically evangelizing the Raikes School and Design Studio, your contributions and actions speak for themselves, and this is why our brand is so strong.  Our ask is that if you see an opportunity for your organization or business unit to partner with Design Studio on a project, that you please reach out – we are especially excited to see alumni involved with Design Studio projects as one of the many ways you can connect back with the school.

In the 18 years of Design Studio, we’ve seen some recurring themes for why sponsors choose to partner with us.  First, and this should be no surprise, is for the level of contact and exposure that sponsors have to recruit and retain Design Studio students as employees.  Second is for the innovation we deliver – accessibility to outside perspectives from some of the sharpest minds in the region.  Third is the ability to impact sponsors at an operational level – 5 to 6 students working 12 to 15 hours a week for 2 semesters can deliver real value.

For 2019 – 2020, we have some specific projects we’re looking for, especially around mechanical and electrical engineering.  We have a strong partnership with the College of Engineering, but for our Raikes School students who are mechanical or electrical engineers we need projects with those aspects for Design Studio to fulfill their majors’ capstone requirement.  We have had several projects with engineering components in the past (like the Water for Food project mentioned in the 2019 Design Studio Showcase article), and we’ve excelled at them, but the Design Studio brand is still largely around software engineering.  We can do so much more with the right types of projects, but we need your help to find them. If you can help, please don’t hesitate to reach out, and thank you for everything you do for the Raikes School.