SUNY New Paltz is expanding their Graduate School by adding a new Master of Arts (MA) in digital design and fabrication program. With a heavy emphasis on 3D printing, this new program will combine elements of art and design with engineering and other facets of STEM education.
The New Paltz Graduate Catalog explains, “The Digital Design & Fabrication (DDF) will prepare students to utilize modern digital fabrication methods in the design and fabrication process. Modern methods of fabrication, such as 3D printing, have changed not only how objects are designed, but have also changed what can be designed and manufactured.”
As technology advances, the need to be educated to produce a high quality of work with such technology is necessary. SUNY New Paltz recognizes this and is using the DDF program to contribute to this market.
The program has been in the process of being created for some time now. “SUNY New Paltz became one of the first universities in the nation to establish a 3D printing lab in 2013. Our resources, expertise and network have only grown since then,” reads the School of Fine and Performing Arts’ (FPA) website. Since the establishment of the 3D printing lab, the digital design and fabrication program had been planned to be brought to fruition.
“The new graduate program in Digital Design & Fabrication lives at the intersection of art, engineering, design, manufacturing and computer science,” reads the FPA website. “It’s an interdisciplinary curriculum founded on the beliefs that technology and design are complementary; that studio practice can be enhanced by digital processes; and that industrial production can be beautiful.”
With this combination of different skill sets and a multifaceted curriculum the new MA in digital design and fabrication can appeal to many students who wish to pursue an education that follows a multitude of their interests.
“Through an approach that blurs traditional boundaries between art, engineering, design, fabrication and science, the DDF program will enable students to take full advantage of advanced manufacturing and fabrication techniques,” says the DDF course description.
The emphasis on the blending between arts and sciences is important as the field itself is very diverse in that aspect. Those going into the program will have experience in both art and science and will be working to blend both ends of the educational spectrum.
SUNY New Paltz also offers an undergraduate minor in digital design and fabrication to coincide with the Master of Arts. This creates a sense of progression in the field and to establish communication and research across multiple fields. The interdisciplinary nature of the program is something that SUNY New Paltz is focusing on.
The FPA website reads, “The program combines expertise in the School of Fine & Performing Arts to introduce Design theory, aesthetics and 3D modeling skills along with expertise from the School of Science & Engineering to expose students to the study of material properties and constraints”
The Digital Design and Fabrication program has been a long time coming, and now SUNY New Paltz can say they are contributing to the design of the future.
