The Design Thinking Studio at IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay, located within the inspiring confines of the Rahul Bajaj Technology Innovation Centre (RBTIC) Building was officially inaugurated in February 2024. The ceremony was graced by the esteemed Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay, alongside key figures including Prof. S Sudarshan, Deputy Director (Academic and Infrastructural Affairs) Prof. Avinash Mahajan, Dean (AP), Prof. Suvarn Kulkarni¸ Associate Dean (AP), and Prof. Anirudha Joshi, Head of the IDC School of Design.

This avant-garde studio stands as a testament to IIT Bombay’s commitment to immersive design education and can accommodate up to 180 students concurrently. It seamlessly merges a spacious collaborative classroom with a well-equipped making zone featuring cutting-edge tools such as 3D printers, laser cutting machines, hand tools, workbenches, and more. In this unique space, IDC now proudly offers the DE 250 – Design Thinking for Innovation, a HASMED course, to approximately 1350 second-year B.Tech, students. Delivered in eight batches, scheduled on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 2 pm to 5 pm and 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm, this course empowers students to explore a user-centric approach to designing and innovating products.

During the inauguration, Prof. Anirudha Joshi, Head of IDC, unveiled the Institute’s plan for HASMED courses and expressed his gratitude to the Institute’s functionaries for their unwavering support in realizing this cutting-edge studio.

The main instructor for the course, Prof. Nishant Sharma, took the opportunity to showcase the state-of-the-art facilities, emphasizing the pedagogy of collaborative hands-on teaching. His insights highlighted the effectiveness of this approach in imparting knowledge to a large number of students, marking a significant step forward in design education at IIT Bombay.

The inauguration of the Design Thinking Studio at IDC School of Design represents more than the unveiling of a physical space; it symbolizes a transformative leap into a new era of design education at IIT Bombay. This innovative studio is a synergy of cutting-edge technology and collaborative learning and a hub of inspiration and ingenuity. It is poised to foster a culture of innovation and shape the creative thinkers and problem solvers of tomorrow.