RV University School of Design Opens for Admissions

Bengaluru: The RV University (RVU) has established a new world-class, tech-driven School of Design in Bengaluru under the leadership of Prof. Vinay Mundada, who has over 33 years of rich experience in this field.

It offers a four-year B. Des programme with specialisation in product design and innovation, information and graphic design, user experience design and spatial design. Under the two-year M. Des programme, specialisation in interaction design and information design are being offered. In addition, there is a Ph.D. programme in Design. These programmes seek to build a foundation for innovation, impact and ambition.

Established by the Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi Trust, the School of Design is one of the three schools under the RVU, which is poised for commencing its degree programmes this year after securing all regulatory approvals.

RVU has appointed Prof. Vinay Mundada as Dean of the School for Design. Earlier on, he held the position of Dean for the School of Design at Flame University and DSK World University, Pune. He was also the Director, Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune and Principal Design Engineer, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Production and Industrial Engineering from Bombay University followed by M. Des in Industrial Design from IIT, Bombay.

Welcoming the establishment of this School, Professor Y.S.R. Murthy, Vice Chancellor, RV University said, “We are excited that our School of Design will commence its degree programmes from the current year. Going by the number students who have already taken admission in this School, we are deeply impressed with the trust reposed by the students and parents in us. We have recruited highly qualified faculty members and created impressive physical infrastructure. We have also forged collaborations with industry, civil society as well as top class universities across the world which will open many interesting opportunities for our students. I am sure students will make full use of them.”

Referring to the School’s commitment to give students an all-rounded education, Dr. Murthy further said, “RV University offers a wide range of options for minors. This choice of minors from History, Philosophy, Literature, Psychology, Physics, Theatre and Performing Arts, Film studies, Economics, Finance, Marketing are geared to prepare the student for creative and impactful futures.”

The Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dwarika Uniyal said, “Our prospective students can expect to walk out being adept in areas such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and collaboration skills – knowledge that allows them to adapt into any design practice they join. We are committed to not just teach students to prioritize existing constructs but also to challenge the status quo and lead the industry into the future.”

Referring to the underlying principles of the School, Dean Prof. Vinay Mundada said, “First and foremost, design education must make a human being sensitive to other human beings’ behaviour, needs, culture and environment we live in. We at School of Design are designing programs and curriculums which while retaining the core design learnings would also embrace the learnings from disciplines of humanities, social sciences, technology and business. We plan to bring in the best practices of design education across the globe to enrich the experience of students undergoing design education at RV University.”

The RV University has appointed Prof. Pramod Riswadkar as the Program Head, User Experience Design. A product of IIT, Bombay, he has been designing for 20 years in user experience design & education, e-Learning, multimedia design, publication design and advertising. His research interests include, among others, designing direction in self-reliant communities, differently abled, emerging technologies, information architecture and design.

Prof. Rattan Gangadhar has been appointed as the Programme Head, Product Design. A product of IIT, Bombay, he is an experienced design professional having experience of working in digital content creation and transportation design. As design educator, he has had experience teaching variety of classes from foundation to Masters students in product and space design. His areas of expertise include, among others, product design, retail design, design thinking, space design, experience design, entrepreneurship & start-ups, interface design, digital design and change by design.

RVU’s School of Design is conscious of this contemporary design topology and understands the need for a curriculum that reflects the interconnectedness of our complex societies and goes beyond design as a discipline. Elaborating on this, Dean Prof. Mundada said, “Design education in this country by and large follows Bauhaus philosophy of “Learning by Doing” which still remains at the core of the design teaching and learning. While adhering to this philosophy, we at RV University are embracing new avenues of multidisciplinary learning. This goal would be achieved by integrating the philosophy of liberal education into the design courses and projects. There would be an interdisciplinary learning opportunity for students by way of choosing a minor in any specialization offered by the other schools at RV University (School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Economics and Finance). All the design students would be given sufficient inputs to understand the business aspects of design and be an entrepreneur. We understand the need and importance of creating awareness about design careers among the young talents who have a creative bent of mind and want to indulge into off-beat careers.”

Referring to a gap between design education and industry expectations, Dean Prof. Mundada said, “While retaining the core curriculum of design education, we will ensure that it will be in tune with industry requirements of today, and tomorrow by having close and regular interactions with design professionals and industry experts in validating the curriculum as well as by way of their involvement in conducting master classes, workshops, jury and mentoring. We would invite professional experts to regularly interact with students in formal as well as informal ways. Our students will get hands-on industry exposure through summer internships and industry-sponsored capstone projects.”

RVU’s curriculum is centred around a student’s curiosity, resourcefulness, willingness to explore and experiment as well as their observation capacity. When asked about who would qualify to join this institution, Dean Prof. Vinay Mundada remarked, “Curiosity and good observational skills are the essential qualities we expect from the current generation of learners that will empower them to acquire desired knowledge and skills. They should be open minded to explore and experiment in order to come up with innovative and relevant solutions that will be most apt and appealing to the intended audience. Aspiring designers need to engage with emerging trends and technologies and should acquire and develop best of the hand and mind skills. While being doers they should also strive to be good thinkers”

Though Bengaluru is home to several design schools that cater to a variety of design specializations, the RV School of Design is unique in many respects. It is founded on the firm belief that a broadening of the material taught and what design education stands for is necessary. The school of design’s mandate is to produce students who can work within a complex environment of ever-shifting needs, requirements and constraints. With appropriate training and experience, our designers will be well suited to become leaders of large and complex socio-technical systems. The school is not afraid to foster non-traditional roles for designers and this is precisely what is required for the demands of the 21st century.