RESILE Faculty Affiliate Dr. Judy Ledlee, Ph.D. serves as the Executive Director of the Design Climate program within the Pratt School of Engineering.
As the program moves into its second year, RESILE is excited to share on behalf of the program that applications for the 2024-2025 academic year are now live! On behalf of the program, please refer to the information below:
The goal for Design Climate (program website) is to create future leaders who can create triple bottom line businesses that generate positive environmental, societal, and financial return.
Design Climate I: Discover (Fall 2024)
The fall semester focuses on developing a business model for a triple bottom line startup idea. To develop the business model, students will be given a climate challenge prompt from a Co-Designer (industry professional or a Duke faculty member) will work through the first three phases of the design thinking process: stakeholder empathizing, opportunity definition, and solution ideation. Students will also develop a simple “prototype” to validate with potential customers . The semester culminates with a mini pitch of the startup business idea and preliminary proof-of-concept prototype that will be further vetted in Design Climate II. Why take Design Climate I: It’s a fun opportunity to immerse yourself in a climate challenge and come up with an innovative business to address it!
Design Climate II: Develop (Spring 2025)
The spring semester focuses on getting customer feedback on the triple bottom line startup idea. Students will continue to use the design thinking framework to prototype, test, and iterate on their ideas as well as build out their business model with financial projections . By the end of the semester, students will have validated their business idea , and the semester will culminate in a more detailed pitch to members of the local entrepreneurship community. Why take Design Climate II: See if your startup idea really makes sense and learn more about financial planning and operations for real-world businesses!
Scheduling
Design Climate I: Discover (Fall 2024) meets Fridays from 10:05am – 1:00pm in the Wilkinson Building.
Sections: ENG 545, ENVIRON 545, and I&E 545.
Ideally, the Design Climate II (Spring 2025) will be the same time.
If you want to learn more about the Design Climate program, please RSVP here to attend one of our two upcoming student information sessions on Wednesday 3/27 from 4:00-5:30pm in Grainger Hall, 1101 and Thursday 4/4 from 12:00-1:30pm in the Wilkinson Building, 017 (see attached flyer).
