Programs and Advising
The Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) offers seven different degree programs:
- Bachelor of Science in Human Centered Design & Engineering (BS in HCDE)
- Master of Science in Human Centered Design & Engineering (MS in HCDE) offered in both day and evening
- PhD
- Interdisciplinary Master of Science in Technical Japanese
- Certificate in Technical Writing and Editing
- Certificate in User-Centered Design
These programs give students the opportunity to pursue areas of specialization, attend classes while working, or earn a degree in the evening. Since the Department of HCDE is part of the College of Engineering, students often start with a strong foundation in math and science which is increasingly important in industry. The department itself offers a wide range of courses, some required and some elective. Class sizes are small, so students get to work closely with faculty members and with other students.
Human Centered Design & Engineering enhances course offerings with carefully selected joint listings with other departments across campus, and offers students specialized learning-through-design projects and internships, in which students work with a client to design and deliver a product. HCDE also offers a directed research program in which students work in small teams side by side with faculty to do hands-on research and often publish the results.
The main topics that students learn about are hypermedia and multimedia, human-computer interaction, publications management, rhetoric of technical discourse, and online support systems. Also, students design, write, edit, and evaluate technical and scientific materials.