COURSE NUMBER: MBA 294.6

COURSE TITLE: Design & Innovation Speaker Series

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1.0

INSTRUCTOR: Sara Beckman

STUDENT ORGANIZER: Kavita Patel and Alex Chun

E-MAIL ADDRESSES: alex_chun@mba.berkeley.edu; kavita_patel@mba.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Mondays, 4-6PM, Fall A only

This class will meet on the following dates: 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/6 and 10/13

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CLASS FORMAT: Guest speakers from the design and innovation space will share their personal paths and company's story and conduct workshops to expose students to design thinking techniques.

REQUIRED READINGS: Materials prepared by guest speakers and/or fellow classmates

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Attendance and class participation. For each class, 1-2 students will be asked to prepare a few slides about each one of the speakers and their company and to introduce them at the beginning of the class.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

What is design thinking?  What does it mean to work in innovation and design-focused roles? How can students apply design thinking techniques to their careers? 

Every week, guest speakers who use design and innovation as part of their daily careers will come and introduce design thinking to students, share how design and innovation strategy is helping their organizations stay ahead of the game, what the opportunities and challenges of this industry are today, as well as their unique career path charting how they got to where they are today. Some guest speakers will also facilitate workshops to help students take a deeper dive into the techniques that design professionals use regularly.

This one-unit course aims to teach Haas students some of the fundamentals of design thinking and educate students on the diverse roles which exist within the space, across a range of industries. The course will bring in speakers from a large variety of design and innovation focused roles and companies, ranging from non-profit and for-profit design consultancies to in-house innovation departments in CPG and tech companies.

Following each class, a small group of students will join the speakers for dinner at the Faculty Club and will have the opportunity to network in a more intimate setting. These students will be asked to prepare a few slides to introduce the speakers and companies in question at the beginning of the class.

SPEAKER LIST: Speakers are currently being finalized with a list being sent out in early August.

Last year included speakers from the following companies: Tesla, Samsung Innovation Lab, ideo.org, Adobe, Proctor & Gamble, and PG&E.