Aalto University partners with Tongji University to start a new college, Shanghai D&I

It is official: Shanghai D&I is launched!
It is official: Shanghai D&I is launched!

Aalto University and Tongji University have signed an agreement to establish a new college, Shanghai International College of Design and Innovation (Shanghai D&I). This college will start operating in fall 2017.

Shanghai D&I forms a part of the Tongji University, with which Aalto University has closely cooperated for several years. Already in May 2010, the partners joined forces and opened the Aalto-Tongji Design Factory at the Tongji Campus which now operates as Sino-Finnish Center. Tongji University is among China’s 15 best universities and the leading one, for instance, in the field of architecture as well as and urban and regional planning.

Aalto University President Tuula Teeri and Dean Lou Yongqi of Tongji University College of Design and Innovation.
Aalto University President Tuula Teeri and Dean Lou Yongqi of Tongji University College of Design and Innovation.

Shanghai D&I in making.
Shanghai D&I in making.

Aalto University and Tongji University have been developing a curriculum based on Aalto’s current high-quality master programmes. These programmes will include International Design Business Management, Creative Sustainability, Collaborative and Industrial Design and Aaltonaut, a multidisciplinary minor subject. Aalto University will produce approximately one-third of Shanghai D&I’s teaching content. Turkka Keinonen, Head of Aalto University Department of Design, notes that the intention is to expand the cooperation later also to research in addition to teaching.

Student Representatives from Tongji and Aalto host the Launch of Shanghai D&I.
Student Representatives from Tongji and Aalto host the Launch of Shanghai D&I.

Tuula Teeri addresses the audience.
Tuula Teeri addresses the audience.

According to Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University the new college will bring along better opportunities for international cooperation for the Aalto University students and staff. The goals of Shanghai D&I are set high. It aspires to become the centre of design and innovation. Professor Lou Yongqi, Dean of Shanghai D&I emphasizes Shanghai’s potential as a laboratory for new models of higher education in the field of design and innovation.

See the news on Aalto University’s website for further information.