Reflections on the TU Delft

Recently many people have been emailing to ask me what it is like to study industrial design at the TU Delft. Here is my long winded and not grammatically or stylistically checked reaction (please excuse me):

Hey ---,

Sorry it took so long for me to reply. It sounds like you are in the same boat I was right before graduating from MIT. I studied mechanical engineering and architecture, and I also wanted to go in a designy-technical direction but I was scared of the implications of art school/didn’t want to be subjected to the normal engineering path.

Because I was so busy with double majoring, come spring of my senior year, I hadn’t thought much about graduate programs (though I had looked at some websites: RISD, Stanford product design, etc). I assumed I would work for a year or two at a random architecture/meche firm before thinking more about what to study next or how to move in a product design direction. However, around May I started panicking. I didn’t want to work for any of the companies I had gotten offers from; I didn’t want to be condemned as a ProE slave or a menial technical drawer. I had heard from Chandler Hatton and Dave Wallace about the TU Delft, so I applied. There was no stress because the application date was due after all my work was turned in (June-ish?).

Before I can go further, I have to explain the education system in the Netherlands. All education is basically free for each and every Dutch citizen. Anybody can go to any university or college they want studying anything they want, assuming they have passed the required classes in high school (some number of math or science classes). Not only can anyone study anything and wherever they want, they also get 10 years of subsidy from the government. Within those 10 years they can get up to their bachelor’s, master’s or higher with the government paying them money to live. What this means is there is no selectivity except self selectivity. Even though the TU Delft is the technical school of the Netherlands, anyone can get in. The TU is prestigious, but the least prestigious of all the departments amongst students (in terms of hardness respect) is Industrial Design. It is also where all the failed engineers and people who don’t know what they want to do when they grow up end up studying.

There are about 2,000 people studying industrial design at the TU Delft. Of those students, some are very motivated and hardworking. Almost everyone has something they are really good at. There are also many people who don’t care at all about school and many more in between. Most graduates do not end up as product designers. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you realize that this is the fate of most majors for generalists (i.e. course 2 at MIT). As you know, many mechanical engineers at MIT go into finance, law, consulting, etc. There are many people here who are very dedicated to what they do, and there are many smart people who you can learn from, professors and students alike. There are also people who are passionate about other things besides work.

As to your question about keeping your technical background, the courses in the master are not very technical owing partly to the fact that all engineering basics have been covered in the bachelor’s program and partly because of the nature of the study. However, each half year there is a major design project where you may be able to put your technical skills to good use (depending on the design project/company). Also, because of the huge student body, there are a huge number of people who are well specialized in the whole spectrum from engineery to designy.

The program is set up so that each semester there is a major design project to work on. The other master courses are designed to support the progress of that major design project, and you can choose your own electives beyond that. The supporting classes are not very rigorous or hard. Absolutely none are very technical, but some are quite interesting (business aspects, research on p-design, methods, technology, etc). For me, the fun parts of IPD are the design projects. In these projects you work with a company and other students (depending on which project) to create a product/solve a problem. The greatest strength of the TU is that it is very rigorous on teaching process and documentation, but at the same time I think this also hinders the creative process…alas, thus is the nature of negotiating design and engineering. The graduation project is where you can really pursue what you want to do and to what degree of conceptuality or engineering.

In the end, aesthetics takes a second seat to industrial engineering at the university. Coming to study in Delft will not be an art education. Like I said before, the design process is what you learn at the TU Delft. You will have to take some drawing classes, but the aesthetics aspect is assumed. The Dutch master students will have already have had extensive form-giving and drawing classes, so these will not be taught in the master itself. I have learned many things from working within the projects and with other people. I have also had to use a lot of Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator in the context of report/project/product presentation.

Not knowing Dutch isn’t a hindrance at all in terms of studying here or living here. All the master’s programs are now in English as of two years ago or so. Also, everyone speaks fluent English, and I mean everyone (unlike most other European countries). The only place that you could run into trouble is in the area of making friends. In general, Dutch people are very insular and cliquish. I believe they are less so towards Americans because we speak fluent English and we share similar TV culture. That said, there is also a lot of political negativity here in terms of generally hating Bush and US foreign policy.

If you want to learn Dutch, being enrolled in a master’s program entitles you to two free, first level Dutch courses that are offered by the TBM faculty. I took them and they give a pretty good intro to Dutch, and you can use the class for elective credits if you wish.

For myself, I am happy I chose to come to TU Delft. I feel like I have learned a lot, though it is not necessarily what I expected I would learn. I loved MIT and don’t mind working hard, but I was feeling a little burnt out just after graduation. Living in Delft has been kind of a vacation/master’s all in one. Right now I am in my last half year of the IDP program here, I get about 9 hours of sleep per night, and probably will graduate cum laude. Because I have so much free time I have been working on my own graphic design projects, took a screen printing class, and joined the community orchestra. When I leave here, I will feel well rested, have my masters from a respected university, and will be confident about becoming a designer if I choose to stay in this field.

I hope that this has helped answer some of your questions. Let me know if you have any other questions or comments.

*Note: Jorn wants to comment that work is not the most important thing to many Dutch people and I am writing from the perspective of a capitalist pig. Living in a socialist state affords such luxurious living.. sigh.