Carnegie Mellon University, School of Design

09/02/2026

We're thrilled to announce that Brooke Hopper will joining us for the Design Nexus Summit on September 16-18!

Brooke Hopper is a design leader and Senior Principal Designer on Adobe’s Machine Intelligence & New Technology team, where she explores how generative AI and emerging technologies can expand rather than diminish human creativity.

Register now for the Design Nexus Summit at https://design.cmu.edu/design-nexus/design-nexus-summit

09/01/2026

The Design Nexus Summit is right around the corner on September 16-18. We're so excited to start announcing our line up of speakers.

One of our keynote speakers is Andrew Witt, a Kavita and Krishna Professor at Washington University in Saint Louis. He is also the co-founder of Certain Measures, a design and technology studio that prototypes the future. Trained in both architecture and mathematics, Witt has a particular interest in a technically synthetic and logically rigorous approach to form.

Register now for the Design Nexus Summit at https://design.cmu.edu/design-nexus/design-nexus-summit

08/28/2026

Last night was Convocation for the 2026-2027 school year here at the School of Design. Convocation is when we gather together to kick off the school year with some reflections on where we have been and a sneak peek of where we are headed. It's an amazing opportunity to get together as a school, reconnect with old friends, and make new ones.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, we all got our hands on this year's School of Design t-shirt, designed by Dipika Sharma (BDes '28), and then headed outside for some incredible tacos from Community Kitchen Pittsburgh.

Safe to say, it's going to be a very good year.

08/24/2026

It's the first day of classes! Our brand new Master's students took over a classroom today and designed a Collocation Map. Together they worked to communicate, visually and interactively, something about themselves, where they came from, and how they might be connected to others in their cohort, geographically or personally.

08/21/2026

There was an alarming amount of brain power in the building today as we welcomed all of our new and returning PhD Researchers!

https://www.design.cmu.edu/about-our-programs/phd-transition-design

08/20/2026

They're heeeeeeeere! Today, our brand new First Year students gathered together, found their desks in their studio, and then grabbed their umbrellas for a walk over to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. With prompts and sketchbooks in hand, our fresh batch of Designers got lost in a veritable wonderland for their very first exercise as a cohort.

Note to families...they are not actually lost. We managed to get them all back to campus.

07/31/2026

Today our Pre-College students had the opportunity to show off the impressive work they've done over the summer. This was a really remarkable group of future designers and we're truly proud of what they accomplished here in our studios.

06/23/2026

Carnegie Mellon University School of Design alumna Sofía Bosch Gómez (PhD in Transition Design '22) has been named one of the inaugural recipients of the Rachel Cooper Award for Emerging Design Research Leadership, presented by the Design Research Society (DRS) at its 2026 conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

https://www.design.cmu.edu/news/school-design-alumna-sofia-bosch-gomez-receives-inaugural-rachel-cooper-award-emerging-design

06/10/2026

CMU's impact is undeniable on Pittsburgh's cultural identity. Learn more about CMU's creative contributions to the city with examples from Design alumnus Burton Morris and School of Design Professor Kristin Hughes.

Carnegie Mellon University serves as a vital anchor for the regional arts ecosystem. Through hands-on opportunities and mentorship from celebrated alumni — including this weekend's visiting Tony-Award nominees — CMU cultivates emerging talent that actively shapes and elevates Pittsburgh’s cult...

06/08/2026

Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design has appointed Jonathan Chapman as its new Head of School, effective June 1, 2026. An internationally recognized design theorist and educator, Chapman has been a member of the faculty since 2017, most recently serving as Director of Doctoral Studies, where he led the School’s pioneering PhD in Transition Design, a program training designers to confront the most complex social and ecological challenges of our time.

https://www.design.cmu.edu/news/carnegie-mellon-school-design-names-jonathan-chapman-new-head-school