BENG INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
September 2025
Full time
Three or four years
Available
Suzhou
Design School
XJTLU undergraduate students earn two degrees: an XJTLU degree recognised by the Chinese Ministry of Education and a globally respected University of Liverpool degree.
Knowledge and skills
By the time you graduate from the BEng Industrial Design you will have:
- Ability to use creative skills for the development and production of products, consumer goods and interactive designs and furniture design.
- Understanding how technology innovation and adaptive systems can be integrated into future products
- User research processes to explore and design for user-experience in different markets and consumer contexts
- Awareness of cross-cultural aspects of designing for the Chinese market and other contexts
- Knowledge of materials structure and specification for high volume manufactured products
- Marketing and practical model-making skills in presenting design development processes.
- Visual Language and Form development to build presentations through development processes.
Our Bachelor's programme is a human-centred creative pursuit grounded on knowledge and ingenuity, tinkering and experimentation, designed to address the needs of tomorrow's products and systems involving emerging technologies, materials, and behavioural patterns while addressing the needs and requirements of users, clients, and the planet.
Nuno Bernardo
Programme Director
Modules
*Programme modules listed are illustrative only and subject to change. XJTLU students are advised to log in to the e-Bridge Portal to view the effectuated module structure.
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University offers a wide range of courses in the first year, including English for academic purposes (EAP), mathematics and physics, and humanities and social sciences. Click to learn more.
Industrial Design at XJTLU is very innovative. Teachers from different fields bring together different perspectives of design. Here, students can learn colorful design history, rigorous research logic, interesting model making and other basic design skills. At the same time, there will also be teamwork, presentation and design thinking. Industrial design not only gives you skills and experience, prepares you to be a good designer in the future, but also gives you a new perspective on life. “Industrial design is designed for the future of mankind.” This is what a teacher told me when I was in year one. This is the reason why I choose industrial design. Design is free and multi-dimensional, and it is constantly exploring people's better way of life. We welcome you to join us to explore and improve people's lives freely and look forward to the future together.
Mingyuan Zhou
From China, completed his BEng Industrial Design Degree with 1st class honours at XJTLU.
Careers
You will be well equipped to thrive across the ever-expanding landscape of design, which includes not only industrial and product design but also interaction, experience, and service design. You can join research and development teams in multinational enterprises, work as a design consultant or freelance professional, or carve your own path as an entrepreneur. The strong cross-cultural profile of our programme further enhances your ability to adapt and succeed in international markets. In addition, you will build a solid foundation for postgraduate study, a path many of our graduates pursue around the world, or for professional roles that demand conceptual thinking, communication skills, and a keen appreciation for creativity, innovation, and user driven insights.
Overview
The Chinese design industry is growing exponentially and rapidly transforming global markets with creative “designed-in-china” products for international consumers. The studio-based practice of the BEng Industrial Design programme examines, explores and acts on this context of global design innovation through research-led knowledge acquisition, socio-cultural discovery and mapping, creative processes, experimentation with materials and technology, technical execution and visual communication.
Students work in well-invested studios, workshops and fablabs. They start by learning how to develop ideas and concepts through visual research and sketching, which they progress through prototyping and testing. This is enabled by access to traditional and innovative prototyping facilities, such as 3D scanning and printing and laser cutting.
In addition to technical skills, students learn about the social and commercial roles of design, design theories, business models and how to think about users. Indeed, being a designer these days is as much about visual creativity as it is about social responsibility. Designing for a global sustainable future is part of the XJTLU ethos.
Students are taught by renowned international designers and thinkers. They also have access to local and international networks of designers and manufacturers through extra-curricular activities and the networks of the staff team. Internships and placements are a fundamental part of learning. The mix of both academic and professional expertise, together with specialist technical resources, forms a rich experience to establish your profile as an Industrial Designer.
Why should I study Industrial Design at XJTLU?