Somaiya school of design Review

Somaiya School of Design, supported by Riidl, a startup incubator, offers student-centered project-based learning and a multidisciplinary curriculum. Focusing on the values of Adaptability, Accountability, and Altruism, their design program is relevant to the present times. 

They admit only 30 students per batch and also offer student exchange programs at universities in the USA and Europe. The expert faculty members include Dr. Irfan Siddavatam – Professor and Director, Dr. Aditya Gupte – Assistant Professor, Dr. Poornima Nair – Assistant Professor, and many others. 

1. Courses and Software training offered – Bachelor of Design (B.Des) (Product Design) - Somaiya School of Design allows its students to pave their way in Product Design by selecting courses and thrust areas of their interest. 

1. Course fee with duration – The annual fee for B.Des Product Design is ₹ 438,500 and for the 1st year, it is ₹ 440,000. The duration of the course is 4 years. 
2. Eligibility criteria – All the students who have passed 10+2 (any stream) are eligible to take this course. Somaiya University also accepts admission through NIFT, NID, and UCEED.
3. Course content – The curriculum is quite impressive and ensures a balance between exploration and deep learning. In the first year, you will learn about the basics of designing like elements of drawing, sketching, typography, and layout, material exploration, photography, and videography. In the second year, you will deal with advanced design thinking, data visualization, research paper writing, designing brand identity, and many more. You can explore design perspectives from around the world in the third year and the fourth year is for internships.

• There are lots of companies that have collaborated with Somaiya School of Design to provide their students practical learning through internships and placement opportunities. Some of them are FAB LAB, khaki Tours, EARTHSR, PharmEasy, Square of Sports, Eduprime, Indra, Parallax, Chemtech Foundation, Maharashtra State Innovation Society, JioVio, and others. 

The events organized by Somaiya School of Design give students exposure to the world of designing. 

Maker Mela is one of them and Asia’s biggest Maker gathering that hosts about 300+ global innovators every year. It is the premier event for makers and innovators as they get the opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors, government officials, and industry. More than 1500 innovators from 15 countries participate in the Maker Mela. 

TEDx organized in the university let the students learn from the experience of other people and get guidance for their future. More than 500 attendees have participated in the TEDx program in the past 3 years. 

Facebook Developer Circles Mumbai is a community of innovators where aspiring developers can get free tools to build new skills, ideas, and become such in their field. 

Enroot Mumbai is another group of motivated people who learn and share their knowledge for the development of Mumbai. 

Darwin is an international conference designed for promoting the biohacking movement in India. 

Somaiya School of Design, although new, offers courses in Product Design that are based on real-time experience. Clearly, they emphasize the practical skills to build solutions for the problems in the world. As the student testimonials say that the school has provided them with the best practical knowledge and industrial exposure. Frequently organized field trips and interacting with subject experts make the students’ life interesting and interactive. Also, it is supported by Riidl, which is a place of experimentation and gives students a chance to explore their favorite niche. 

The infrastructure and hostel facilities are quite impressive. The foreign exchange programs are also available across the universities of Europe and the USA. The university has collaborated with different companies that provide students experiential skills, internships/placement opportunities. The events organized also give students exposure to the scope of design and help them form their personalities. 

But, this Institute still needs to evolve more for the students to trust them. Still, it is a good place to start your design career if you are a design enthusiast and want to explore this less-chosen field in India. 

Just like every other institution, Somaiya Institute also has some pros and cons that you need to know. 

Pros 

• Faculty – The best part of design courses in Somaiya is the expert faculty members from all over the world. They help students identify their strengths, build skills, innovative ideas, explore opportunities and learn seamlessly. 
• Exposure – Students get exposure to the world of designing through the events organized by the institute like Maker Mela, TEDx, and many more. As the student testimonials say, the institute organizes field trips and interacts with experts to give their students hands-on experience. 
• Infrastructure – The college infrastructure is nice with the facilities like canteen, library, fields, and the college environment. The institute is also known for its sports facilities and well-furnished laboratories. Gym facilities and medical centers are available for the students to take care of their health. 
• Career – There is a huge academic opportunity for students in the Somaiya institute. There are different minors offered along with the majors for the students to widen their horizons. The university has collaborated with a number of organizations like FAB LAB, PharmEasy, Indra, Parallax, and others that provide students internship/placement opportunities with practical learning. Students can be hired as the Product Designer, Product Manager, UX designer, UI-UX Designer, Web/App designer, Bioengineering Process Designer, and other professions on the basis of their chosen course. 
• Curriculum – This 4-year course program has an innovative curriculum that provides practical knowledge in the first 3 years and makes the students ready for internships and hands-on experience in the industry. The curriculum empowers students with several design skills, technologies, business nuances, and real-world connections that help them build solutions in diverse thrust areas. 

Cons

• Not much info about placement records – When you go through the website, there is not anything mentioned about placement records or the average placement package. Neither have they mentioned the highest placement package. So, students might be suspicious whether it is the right choice for them or not. But the institute is quite new, so it is understandable. 
• A bit expensive course – For the Design course, I think about four Lakhs per annum is a bit difficult for the middle-class students who want to pursue their careers in design. 
• New to the Industry – Since the institute was established in 2021, it is quite new to the industry. So, most students and guardians might be skeptical about giving this institute a chance over other design institutions. 
• Not much info is available on the internet – We always surf on the internet before joining any course program. But there is not much information about this institution on the internet. It is again understandable as the institute was started recently. 
• No image gallery – There are not many images of the college campus, hostel, campus, or event organizations available on the website. It may confuse students about the legitimacy of the institution. 

• Now come to the most important discussion, why you should consider this institute to make your designing career. Here’s why:

  • All other colleges are teaching decades-old curricula without giving much emphasis on practical knowledge. But, the Somaiya Institute of Design gives students a real-time experience, and the curriculum is designed accordingly.
  • Events like Maker Mela, TEDx, etc. provide students guidance for their future. Maker Mela is Asia’s biggest innovator gathering where people can pitch their ideas and get investment opportunities. 
  • The other concern of students is about infrastructure and hostel facilities. But you don’t need to worry about that in Somaiya Somaiya institute. 
  • The collaboration with the leading companies gives students exposure to experiential learning and internships. 
  • Here, students can develop an entrepreneurial mindset and build innovative prototypes or design concepts.
  • The institute helps the students uncover the problems and research their solutions.
  • As mentioned in student testimonials, Somaiya institute focuses on practical learning and continuous evaluation which is rarely seen in any other institution in India.