Richmond Institute for Design and Innovation

Students who participated in a pitch competition pose with the judges and their awards.
Record number of patents filed!

During spring 2025, 14 Western Michigan University undergraduate students filed patents for their original work. All 14 were product design students in the Venture Studio. It's one thing to develop a concept for a class project; it's another to refine and pitch the idea to actual investors and have a patent pending—all before graduating college. 

Bring your ideas to life...

Image of a meeting with a pad of paper covered in sticky notes. Alongside an image of a medical technician talking to a researcher.

Discover problems, identify opportunities.

Sketches and renderings of an umbrella with heat lamps under the canopy and a circular interior design.

Develop your ideas, compelling solutions and bring your ideas to life.

Renderings of a finalized battery project and some interiors.

Deliver real solutions to real problems.

Do YOU have lots of ideas? Do YOU love learning how things work? Do YOU want to help our planet? Do YOU want to improve lives? Then, study DESIGN with US!