Stanford Center for Design Research

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Coordinates: 37°25′33″N 122°10′18″W / 37.42583°N 122.17176°W / 37.42583; -122.17176
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The Center for Design Research (CDR) was formed as the first research center at Stanford University to study the process of what would become known as Design Thinking.[1] The Center for Design Research was founded in 1984 by a collection of faculty from Stanford's Design Division, with money from companies including Apple Computer, DARPA, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, NASA, and Toshiba Corporation. In the words of CDR founder Professor(Emeritus) Larry Leifer, "Since its inception in 1984, the work of the center has been guided by one stimulus question and two corollary response questions. What do designers do when they do design? How can we help them manage the process? How can information and communication technology support the process?"[2]

Today, CDR acts as a nexus for graduate students and researchers in a number of affiliated research labs, including those headed by Professors Mark Cutkosky, Sheri Sheppard, Monroe Kennedy, Sean Folmer and Allison Okamura.[3] Emeritus Professor Larry Leifer previously led labs in the center; Leifer was the founding Director of CDR.

The CDR is located in Building 560 at 424 Panama Mall, at the center of the "Design Quad".

Notable Courses[edit]

  • Mechanical Engineering 310. Global Engineering Design Thinking, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship[4] (one of its many names) is currently led by CDR Professor Mark Cutkosky. CDR founder and Professor (Emeritus) Larry Leifer led the course series, often in collaboration with Prof. Cutkosky, for over three decades. The 50-year history of the course was covered in CDR alum Dr. Tamara Carleton's book ME310 at Stanford University: 50 Years of Redesign (1967-2017).[5]
  • Mechanical Engineering 410. Foresight and Innovation[6] was led by long-time Lecturer (and sometimes Adjunct Professor) Dr. William Cockayne. The tools, methods, and cases in this long-running course series were published in the Playbook for Strategic Foresight and Innovation.[7] The playbook was sponsored and published by Finland's innovation-funding organization Tekes, now Business Finland.

Notable Reseach[edit]

  • Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program (HPDTRP).[8] SAP co-founder and early design thinking proponent Hasso Plattner sponsored a decade long, "rigorous academic methods to understand why and how Design Thinking innovation succeeds and fails." Research in the program led to multiple volumes of the Springer book series Understanding Innovation.[9]

Notable Alumni[edit]

  • Morgan Pope completed his doctorate in Prof. Mark Cutkosky's BDML Lab -- Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory—in 2016 based on the SCAMP robot.[10] His work as a Disney Imagineer resulted in the "Spider-Man, a stunt-double animatronic, or stuntronic" and "a rollerblading cartoon character".[11]
  • Santhi Analytis completed her doctorate in Prof. Mark Cutkosky's BDML Lab -- Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory—in 2014 based on her work inventing a needle manipulator for MRI-guided interventions.[12] After graduation she became the co-founder and CTO of Moxxly, a team who reinvented the breast pump; Moxxly was acquired by world-leader Medela in 2017.[13] In 2023 she joined the Designer Fund as a New Venture Fellow.[14]

CDR 2009 Podcast Episodes[edit]

  • Sebastian Thrun (August 24, 2009). "Towards Self-Driving Cars". Center for Design Research (Podcast). Center for Design Research. Retrieved 9 January 2024.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Auernhammer, Jan; Roth, Bernard (16 August 2021). "The origin and evolution of Stanford University's design thinking: From product design to design thinking in innovation management". Journal of Product Innovation Management. 38 (6): 623–644. doi:10.1111/jpim.12594. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Leifer, Leifer (2005). "Center for Design Research, Stanford University". In: Clarkson, J., Eckert, C. (eds) Design process improvement. Springer. pp. 522–525. doi:10.1007/978-1-84628-061-0_35.
  3. ^ "The Center for Design Research | Mechanical Engineering". me.stanford.edu. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  4. ^ "ME310 Design Innovation at Stanford University". Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  5. ^ Carleton, Tamara (27 August 2019). ME310 at Stanford University: 50 Years of Redesign (1967-2017). Innovation Leadership Publishing. ISBN 978-1733202206.
  6. ^ Cockayne, William. "ME410 Strategic Foresight and Innovation". Stanford Foresight - Teaching. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  7. ^ Carleton, Tamara; Cockayne, William; Tahvanaine, Antti (1 January 2013). Playbook for Strategic Foresight and Innovation. Tekes. ISBN 978-9522655714.
  8. ^ "Design Thinking Research Program". Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Understanding Innovation". Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  10. ^ Pope, Morgan (16 Mar 2016). "Stanford's Flying, Perching SCAMP Robot Can Climb Straight Up Walls - SCAMP is a quadrotor with legs that can perch on walls and then climb up them with spiny little feet". IEEE Spectrum. IEEE. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  11. ^ Gent, Edd (21 Nov 2023). "Imagineer Morgan Pope Uses Electromagnetism to Spark Emotions. The Disney roboticist brings superheroes to life". IEEE Spectrum. IEEE. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  12. ^ Analytis, Santhi (2014). Technologies for needle manipulation in magnetic resonance image (MRI)-guided interventions (Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014 thesis). Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Moxxly's Hands-Free Breast Pump Kit Is Legit Gonna Change The Way You Pump". Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Meet Santhi Analytis, Our New Venture Fellow". Retrieved 17 January 2024.

External links[edit]

37°25′33″N 122°10′18″W / 37.42583°N 122.17176°W / 37.42583; -122.17176

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