Humber Industrial Design had its beginning in 1972, and in 1980 Ken Cummings, as Program Coordinator, took the flexible student focused approach to education of one of Ontario's leading colleges and melded it with practical knowledge and skills to meet the demands of the burgeoning business design community.
High achievement levels, promising students, dedicated faculty guided by active business input, made the Industrial Design program the most successful in the system. The program was among the first to fully embrace computer aided design and digital graphics. As its reputation grew employers and graduates demanded a higher level of education which was delivered in 2003 with the granting of a Bachelor Degree which now included a new pathway in transportation design.
With the unprecedented number and the depth of our industry sponsored competitions it is no surprise that the employment level of graduates has been an outstanding feature of the program since inception, with many design firms preferring Humber applicants. Graduates work at firms like BRP, GM, Umbra, Spinmaster, ABC Group, IDEO, Nissan etc.
The Program graduates also compete with those from other industrial design degrees in annual competitions with favorable results. Graduates place high in international competitions like the Michelin Challenge Design or the Dyson Competition. Humber graduates who choose to pursue a master’s degree are welcomed at institutions both in Canada and globally.
In 2020, a third specialization of interaction design was added to the program to complement specializations in product design and automotive design. This new area of development in industrial design is based on integration of digital with physical products. Humber is the first industrial design program in Canada to introduce this speciality.
Humber is justifiably proud of this unique and popular program. With 45 years of constant performance-based success the future looks promising for Humber Industrial Design.