Master of Science in Health and Design

The Master of Science in Health and Design program approaches design and health from an ecosystem and an embodied perspective, investigating our built environment and the impact on humans in order to derive a holistic understanding down to key factors determining an individual's health. It informs a learner's future agency that is built upon a transdisciplinary platform which empowers one to create adaptive environments, dynamic tools, regenerative materials or circular products that have social and ecological benefits and enhance health and wellbeing for all.

We want to empower people to improve their lived experiences through design.

The program facilitates students and experts to collaborate in research on inclusive design and purpose driven projects that investigate the impact of design on health, environment and healthcare. Health is essential to a population's economic, cultural and social future. Our purpose is to facilitate broader access to care, wellbeing and provide better health to everyone.

The curriculum invites students to imagine how we can go beyond a traditionally symptom driven definition of health and care to a broader understanding of the originating factors that determine an individual's health over a life span. Approaching health as an ecosystem, we explore new research territories for health and design by questioning disciplinary practices and boundaries, un-learning processes and overcoming stuck mindsets. We discover modes that build a student's competency in creating healthy environments and products, which are becoming preventive and therapeutic.

Our faculty are exploring with students new ground in three systemic contexts of building community resilience towards future pandemics or natural disasters: health systems, urban systems and material systems. Projects are oriented towards propositions of new spatial, material and medical prototypes, and their social, cultural and emotional effect on the health of people and communities. By experimenting at the overlaps of the disciplinary connections between the health sciences and design, the goal is to develop and apply new approaches to designing the qualities of space in general from a health framework point of view, and subsequently to influence care spaces for treatment, convalescence, and recovery.

This program aims to focus its research interests, curriculum, and pedagogy on the deep influence of the interactional, experiential, material, and environmental qualities of our designed spaces upon the health, wellness, and fitness of our bodies and minds. In it's approach to these objectives, this program centers on people and explores potential applications of emerging materials and technologies, rather than focusing on solving problems through tried and tested formulations. Ultimately, a new form of speculative interdisciplinary design practice may arise, targeting innovation through the cross pollination of various disciplines and arenas of practice.

This master of science program brings together educators from architectural and interior design, UX-UI interface designers, medical technology experts, human factors engineers, data and visualization consultants, industrial and product designers, lighting designers, programmers, physical computing and technology entrepreneurs, and a range of contributors from health sciences, including doctors, nurses, and other experts such as occupational therapists, mobility specialists, etc.

We believe that only as a diverse and inclusive team we can address health from both a systemic and an embodied perspective, targeting aspects of the global environmental crisis or mental and physical disabilities through advanced design, technological, and material solutions.

Students in the program will:

1. Understand, critically reflect upon, and overcome stuck tendencies and prejudices in how health and disease are framed, stated, researched, funded, and how it can be differently addressed through design
2. Build connections and apply knowledge from a range of disciplinary sources towards an advanced design method in which health in its broadest sense acts as the organizing frame for design research and practice
3. Understand how to evaluate materials based on health and environmental concerns, and design products with intrinsically preferable attributes throughout their life cycles
4. Understand the socio-technical models for healthcare redesign, and how best to evaluate their impact with regards to patient experience and products by understanding the system point of view
5. Understand and leverage from an embodied perspective the advantages of digital technology from software and data to wearables technology in the health and design fields

The M.S. in Health and Design program will contribute to the intellectual and professional strengths of New York Tech in its commitment to transdisciplinarity, social purpose, and a culture of technology as it relates to models of healthy living and the design of regenerative environments.

In this light, the School of Architecture and Design strives to engage innovation via technology through the collaborative exchange between various professional and disciplinary domains of expertise across the medical and design fields. This program aims to provide career-oriented professional education to our students, creating opportunities for graduates in their professional destinations, and contribute to the benefit of the larger world in a renovated approach to health and design.

Graduating students are applying for leadership positions in areas such as:

• Design consulting firms as health design strategists
• AEC and architecture firms as health and care specialists
• Healthcare device manufacturers as product and project consultants
• Large health care insurances and health data startups as health service design experts
• Health institutions and municipal planning offices as health and design planners

International F-1 students who successfully complete this degree are eligible for an additional 24-month STEM OPT extension to work in the U.S. in an area directly related to their area of study immediately upon completing the customary 12-month post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT).

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The master's degree is a 30-credit program, offered at the Long Island and New York City campuses. The program does not lead to professional licensure. This is a post-professional Master of Science degree.

Students should submit all materials including portfolio and references as early as possible in order to ensure enough time for review and to obtain an I-20 (international students).

If an applicant does not meet the admissions criteria, it may be possible, at the discretion of the program director, to be admitted for a probationary period with an opportunity to demonstrate qualifications by achieving a graduate GPA of 3.0 or higher in the first three graduate degree courses. If the applicant's graduate academic record includes any failures in coursework, they may be dismissed from the program following a review by faculty committee including the director and two faculty members of the School of Architecture and Design appointed by the dean.

Admission Requirements

• A degree from an accredited institution in the disciplinary arenas of design (architecture, interiors, furnishing, industrial, product, fashion, etc.) and engineering, healthcare and wellness, biology and chemical fields (with expertise in innovative technologies and bio-materials), or equivalent if applying with a foreign degree from another country
• Minimum GPA of 3.0
• No standardized tests (including GRE) are required, except TOEFL/IELTS/PTE for international students

If you have any questions about admissions or eligibility, please contact the Office of Graduate Admissions at nyitgrad@nyit.edu or 516.686.7520.

Application Materials

All applicants must provide the following information prior to submitting the required supplemental materials (curriculum vitae, personal essay, and digital portfolio).

• Completed application
• $50 nonrefundable application fee
• Two letters of recommendation from references who have direct knowledge of the applicant's professional potential and academic ability. References should send their letters of recommendation directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions at nyitgrad@nyit.edu.
• Optional Interview: You are encouraged to meet with the program director, Christian Pongratz, professor of architecture, or their designee. Please email christian.pongratz@nyit.edu to schedule an appointment.
• Copies of undergraduate transcripts for all schools attended. All final, official transcripts must be received prior to the start of your first semester.
• Copy of college diploma or proof of degree
• International student requirements: English proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS), I-20, and transcript evaluation.

DOCUMENT SUBMISSION FORM

Supplemental Application Materials

1. Curriculum Vitae: a minimum one-page resume with your portrait photo, name and last name, contact information, degrees, accomplishments, and depending on background also professional work, research, projects, publications, exhibitions, associations, skills, etc.
2. Personal Essay/Statement of Interest (500–1000 words): A written narrative providing evidence of personal interests in research, projects, or activities for social purpose, community engagement, and creating resiliency, individual health, aspects of healthcare, wellness and healthy lifestyle, medtech, biotech, behavioral data or biomaterials is considered a plus.
3. Report or Portfolio: with evidence of disciplinary research or creative work. Evidence of research could include a project report, peer reviewed or graded paper, or thesis; applicants wishing to submit a portfolio with creative work should follow these guidelines below.
   • The portfolio should consist of your own work (format PDF/MP4; size limit 35 MB).
   • The portfolio may include selected creative and/or textual work, assignment-based projects, self-directed work, or pieces of a collaborative nature, and could contain drawings, schemes, plans, video, photographs, diagrams, graphs, model images etc.
   • Areas of interest may include design, healthcare, health technology, environmental sciences and technologies (including simulation, visualization, fabrication, robotics, etc.), engineering and bio-engineering, biotechnology, urban planning, interiors, industrial design, product, furniture design, or material design, etc.
   • Please identify each piece of work with a date, title, medium, or methodology and a brief explanation of the work and its context, and organize these into a single, multipage PDF. For any team or collaborative projects, please identify all participants and highlight your own contributions.
   • Name your PDF files in the following format:
     APPLY_MSHD_Portfolio_LastName_FirstName.pdf
   • Maximum file size is 35 MB. Please be aware of this limitation when formatting files and resolution for your work. Files larger than 35 megabytes may be rejected by the New York Tech server. Links to applicant's materials available through the web, YouTube, Dropbox, or other sites can serve as support to the application.

SUBMIT SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS