RIT Co-op: Design Thinking

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with clinicians, patients, and the Performance Excellence team to identify design opportunities within clinical and operational workflows.
• Translate user needs into physical and digital product concepts, experience prototypes, and system-level solutions.
• Create sketches, renderings, models, and prototypes (from low to high fidelity) to communicate and test ideas.
• Lead or participate in human-centered design research, including contextual inquiry, ethnographic studies, and usability testing.
• Iterate designs based on feedback from cross-disciplinary stakeholders such as medical staff and patients.
• Support the end-to-end design process from research and ideation through prototyping, evaluation, and implementation.
• Ensure all designs comply with healthcare standards, including infection control and accessibility guidelines.
• Stay current on emerging trends in healthcare design, medical devices, and human factors engineering.

Qualifications

• Required: Current student enrolled at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Academic background aligned with the department’s area of focus.
• Pursuing a degree in Industrial Design or a related field.
• Prior internship or coursework in design, innovation, or process improvement.
• Familiarity with Lean, Six Sigma, PDCA, or other improvement methodologies.
• Understanding of human factors engineering, systems thinking, or service design principles.
• Proficiency with design and prototyping tools (e.g., SolidWorks, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, or similar) and 3D Printing experience.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and presentation skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.