About Design Thinking and Innovation Department
The Design Thinking and Innovation (DTI) Department at KL University, Vijayawada, India, is a dedicated entity aimed at fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among its students and faculty. The department is driven by the vision of nurturing world-class entrepreneurs who can make a positive impact on society and the world.
To achieve its mission, the DTI department has developed a comprehensive action plan that includes offering a Fundamental Course of Design Thinking and Innovation (DTI) to all students. This course is designed to teach students structured methods to approach problems, apply design thinking, and innovative problem-solving techniques.
The department has identified maker spaces within the university to provide students with the necessary resources and infrastructure to turn their ideas into successful venture. The DTI department also provides academic flexibility through an innovation pathway that helps students turn their ideas into reality.
In addition to the DTI course, the department also plans to offers PG Diploma in Innovation and Entrepreneurship to train faculty mentors. This program equips faculty members with the necessary skills to mentor students and guide them towards entrepreneurial success.
The DTI course offered by the DTI Department at KL University is an immersive experience that exposes students to a wide range of activities designed to enhance their innovation and entrepreneurship skills. These activities include:
- Empathetic Surveys: This activity is aimed at identifying the real pain points of the users. Through empathetic surveys, students learn to identify the needs of users and develop innovative solutions to address their pain points.
- Breakout Group Activities: The DTI course is designed based on the principle of learning by doing. Students work in teams to perform a variety of activities aimed at enhancing their innovation and problem-solving skills. These activities include brainstorming sessions, group discussions, and role-playing activities.
- Prototype Development: This activity involves the preparation of both high and low fidelity prototypes. The objective is to transform an idea into a physical object or working model. This activity enables students to test and validate their ideas and identify areas for improvement.
- Work in Progress (WIP) Activity: This activity involves continuous involvement of students to solve the identified user-centric problems. It is a hands-on approach that allows students to gain practical experience in solving real-world problems.
- Project Expo: Students can participate and highlight their DTI projects in the open forum, where they showcase their innovative ideas and products. The Project expo is evaluated by experts and considered for further incubation stage.
- Pitching Sessions (Mock Shark Tank Event): This activity provides an opportunity for students to practice pitching their ideas or prototypes in front of experts to get funding support. Students learn how to communicate their ideas effectively and pitch them to potential investors.
- Guest Lectures by Renowned Entrepreneurs: The DTI course includes guest lectures by renowned entrepreneurs. These lectures provide students with experiential-based learning and allow them to learn from the experiences of successful entrepreneurs.
As in any other field university thrives to adopt of the latest technologies and Tools. Similarly DTI was introduced as a course 3 years ago with a mutidisplinary approach. The course is offered to first year students across all the branches in the university. The students take up contextual problems like using drones for agriculture, design medical aids for senior citizens, using robotics to clean water bodies, iron deficiency for women etc. Every year about 500 different projects are taken up and innovative solutions are proposed. This is yielding tremendous results in reducing the gap between the real-world and classroom. Later owing to amazing success of the course, university has started a new department called DTI department.
The department is also planning to imbibe DTI approach into the teaching pedagogy of the core courses of the respective programs were ever possible, so that the outcome would only be restrained to developing and practicing the concepts in the book. But will extend in applying it real-world scenarios.
Department of DTI is also extending its expertise to train many professionals, faculty and students, by conducting PDP, FDPs and workshops in the surrounding colleges.
Overall, the DTI department at KL University is committed to identifying and harnessing the innovative potential of its students and faculty. By providing them with the necessary resources, infrastructure, and skills, the department aims to empower them to turn their ideas into successful businesses and become world-class entrepreneurs.
Member of Global Design Thinking Alliance (GDTA)
The Department of Design thinking and innovation (DTI) is proud to announce that KLEF has successfully secured membership in the Global Design Thinking Alliance (GDTA) after a rigorous three-level evaluation process. This is the 2nd educational institute in India to achieve this trait. The membership provides us with an excellent opportunity to work with 30 member institutions in 21 countries across 5 continents and share innovative ideas, which will showcase the talents of our students and faculty members on a global level.
The GDTA is a global network of institutions that share a common goal of advancing Design Thinking education, research, and practice. The alliance aims to create a platform for the exchange of ideas, best practices, and exploration of new approaches in Design Thinking education and research through collaboration and dialogue.
Being a member institution of the GDTA enables KLEF to engage in lively debates and learning opportunities with experienced and aspiring design thinkers from diverse disciplines. This will strengthen and deepen the ties between educators and practitioners of Design Thinking, creating an institutional framework to accelerate global exploration and advancement of Design Thinking.
In collaboration with the Global Design Thinking Alliance, we are excited to announce some upcoming events. Stay tuned for more information.
For more details about GDTA, please visit their website at https://gdta.org/
