SINGAPORE – SUTD’s Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Cluster has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UC San Diego’s The Design Lab. This marks an exciting step towards deeper academic collaboration through joint research, student and faculty exchanges, and co-developed programmes.

As part of the visit, we were honoured to host Professor Don Norman, founder of The Design Lab and widely known as the “Father of UX”, along with Professor Mai Thi Nguyen, Director of The Design Lab. At our Design·AI Fab Lab, they explored student projects and shared perspectives on making design and innovation that put people first.

SUTD also participated in the Don Norman Design Award Summit (DNDA25), where our HASS and Design and Artificial Intelligence (DAI) projects that focus on designing for humanity, cultures and the environment were showcased. Representing SUTD on the international stage, Professor Yow Wei Quin, Head of the HASS Cluster, joined the Summit as a panellist.

These engagements reflect SUTD’s ongoing mission to blend disciplines, empower students and shape a better future through human-centred design and innovation.