Apply design thinking to translate your research into sustainable, real-world solutions. This hands-on course introduces the process of developing and validating new ideas, from understanding stakeholder needs and defining the right problem to generating, prototyping, and testing potential solutions. Students will build a practical foundation across each stage of the design thinking process and explore essential tools and principles that they can use to advance and test their ideas. Emphasis on professional skills of: communication, project management, critical thinking and problem solving, collaboration and networking, resilience and adaptability.

 

Key topics include:

  • the intersection of social impact and research translation
  • the end-to-end design thinking process
  • human-centered research and stakeholder discovery
  • user journey and stakeholder mapping
  • problem definition and reframing
  • systems thinking for complex social and environmental challenge.

 

By the end of the course, doctoral students will understand how each stage of the design thinking process contributes to developing and validating new ideas. They will be able to use foundational tools to uncover stakeholder needs, reframe complex problems, generate potential solutions, create and test simple prototypes, incorporate feedback, and identify next steps for translating their research into meaningful social or environmental impact.

 

Remote Synchronous

Five every other Monday evenings (7:15pm-9:55pm) February 8 through April 5:

Monday, February 8: 7:15pm-9:55pm

Monday, February 22: 7:15pm-9:55pm

Monday, March 8: 7:15pm-9:55pm

Monday, March 22: 7:15pm-9:55pm

Monday, April 5: 7:15pm-9:55pm

Faculty: Maureen “Moe” Rinkunas, MBA, MS is Director of Insights Membership at Rock Health, where she helps enterprise leaders navigate the evolving digital health landscape and evaluate emerging innovation opportunities. Her career spans startup creation, venture investing, and corporate innovation roles at organizations including Redesign Health, Corbion, Coplex, DuPont Venture, and Dreamit Ventures. Across these roles, she has helped entrepreneurs and organizations assess new ideas, validate opportunities, and translate research and technology into successful ventures. Moe is also a startup mentor, NSF I-Corps instructor, and adjunct faculty member at Lehigh University, where she teaches courses on technical entrepreneurship and research translation. She holds an MBA and both MS and BS degrees in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University.