BS in Engineering Design

• An engineering degree with a design spine. You’re trained to move between engineering and design as one practice, co-taught by COE and CAMD faculty. Every course is built around a real project, so you learn by doing, with the concepts arriving as the build requires them. You finish able to solve the whole problem, from human need to working build.
• Bay Area Employers co-created it. Bay Area companies helped build the curriculum around the gaps they see in new hires. They stay involved as project sponsors and reviewers, so you finish knowing the people who hire for these roles, and them knowing your work.
• Multidisciplinary. No need to commit to one discipline early. You graduate with the range to pursue jobs in design, manufacturing, controls, and simulation, plus product and commercial paths, from a curriculum that treats mechanical, thermal, electrical, and data work as one connected practice.
• AI as a working tool. Simulation, design optimization, and data analysis in every course, plus the judgment to know when to trust it.
• A portfolio alongside your transcript. A project-integration course every year, which means you graduate with real work to showcase and the skills to tell its story to any audience.

Example builds

• Battery thermal management — cool an EV battery pack, tuned with AI
• AI manufacturing quality control — catch defects before they ship
• Lightweight robotic arm — hit payload targets on a weight budget, validated with FEA
• Community solar system — size an array and model the payback

Graduates are multidisciplinary engineers, ready for roles across the field, including:

• Is this an engineering degree or a design degree?
  An engineering degree with a design spine, co-taught by engineering and design faculty rather than split into separate tracks, so students learn to move between the two the way real work demands.
• How is this different from a typical Northeastern experiential course?
  Experiential learning is woven through the entire degree, not added on top of it. Every course is anchored by a real, industry-sponsored project, and the concepts are taught as the project requires them, so you’re building from your first term rather than waiting for a capstone. Industry fellows are in the classroom throughout, acting as advisors and mentors alongside faculty, and each year includes onsite and offsite engagement with the surrounding industry ecosystem. The result is a program where the hands-on work is the curriculum, not a supplement to it.
• On which Northeastern campus is this program offered?
  The BS in Engineering Design is offered exclusively at Northeastern’s Oakland campus. It’s designed to be completed in Oakland from start to finish, and it isn’t available as a transfer pathway to the Boston campus. Students who want this degree should plan to complete it in Oakland.
• Does it have co-op like the rest of Northeastern?
  Yes. Students have the same access to Northeastern’s co-op program as students on any campus, with the added advantage of being close to the Bay Area companies the program partners with.
• Will a student lose time by choosing it?
  No. The first-year engineering sequence is shared across campuses, so declaring adds no time toward graduation.
• What jobs does it lead to?
  Graduates can work across mechanical, thermal, electrical, and data domains and go into roles like product design engineer, mechanical design engineer, UX engineer, human factors engineer, product manager, and R&D engineer, and even go on to found their own companies. You graduate with a portfolio of real work and co-op experience backing you.
• What type of companies will hire students and graduates of this program?
  The multidisciplinary, AI-fluent engineer this degree produces is the profile companies across the Bay Area and beyond are hiring for, including Adobe, NVIDIA, Figma, Apple, Google, Tesla, Intuitive Surgical, Waymo, SpaceX, and Bose, and many more.
• Which colleges contribute to the concentrations?
  The concentrations draw on expertise from across Northeastern. Concentration coursework is offered in partnership with the College of Engineering, the College of Arts, Media and Design, Khoury College of Computer Sciences, and the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, so you’re learning from faculty across a range of disciplines.
• Who is eligible for the program?
  Prospective students applying to Northeastern are eligible for the BS in Engineering Design and can start by filling out the Undergraduate Inquiry Form. Current Northeastern students who have completed the first-year engineering course sequence are also eligible to transfer into the program through the Transfer Application. Your academic advisor can help you confirm whether your coursework meets the requirements.