Course Information
Based in Newcastle
1 Year Full Time
MDI combines the strengths of design, business and technology to create management thinking and innovation practice for the next generation. It takes graduates who have a deep knowledge of their core discipline and broadens their outlook and understanding of complementary ones to transform them into expert interfacers, influencers and innovators.
Working in multi-disciplinary teams on projects sponsored by leading international companies, students will be involved in activities as diverse as cash-flow forecasting, building prototypes, brand strategy, film-making and writing computer code; whatever it takes to uncover, develop and expose new ideas.
Your course in brief
Led by the Schools of Design, Business and Engineering, this one year full-time course also includes modules from all three schools and you will receive expertise and guidance from all three schools and you will receive expertise, guidance and tuition from specialist academic staff from each discipline. Students will
be expected to take contextual modules in those subjects they have not studied at undergraduate level as well as the following modules;
Developing the Interdisciplinary Self
- Familiarisation Projects
- Experimentation Projects
- Integration Project
- Design-Thinking Thesis
Who will this course suit?
This course is designed for ambitious graduates from either a design, engineering-technology or business background (those with other backgrounds such as social sciences, psychology, the arts are also encouraged to apply). It is for those who are not afraid to move out of their comfort-zone and learn what others do in order to help shape the future.
Did you know?
Business Week’s Bruce Nussbaum says that “Innovation, design and technology are flowing into one another to form a single river of roaring change radically altering our culture, and especially our business culture.”
To date our students have worked on projects sponsored by international companies such as Unilever, British Airways, Mars, Bowers, Wilkins and BBC.
What our students say
"The MDI course allows you to understand and fully appreciate what you have to offer." Samantha Carr
"Working in collaborative groups tests us on many levels. The experience of decision making, leadership, and idea/ego management within group activities is essential. This combined with self reflection and self development has enabled me to focus on where I want to be and how I might go about getting there." Edward Blazey
"Since finishing the MDI course I have co-founded with Edward (above) an award winning Design Company. We couldn't have done this without the way the MDI programme encouraged us to think. To start the company we needed; a passion for multidisciplinary design, the skills to deliver innovative design-led solutions and confidence in our own ability, these are the exact things Mark Bailey, Programme Leader, instilled in us during our time at Northumbria." Alan Ramsay
