The Design Thinking Action Lab, a free online course taught by Epicenter's Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, brought together tens of thousands of participants to create the largest design team in the world. 

The Design Thinking Action Lab has created the largest design team in the world. Led by Epicenter’s Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, more than 45,000 students in this open online class are learning the design thinking process by tackling a real-world innovation challenge.

Together, they have been tasked with redesigning the school-to-work transition in a way that makes sense to each student’s location and culture. Each step of the process teaches the students valuable skills that they will then be able to apply to their work, their passions, and a challenge in their own life.

Design thinking, Leticia says, empowers students to not only solve problems, but also define the problems themselves. This skill, human-centered problem solving, is essential for engineering students to learn as part of their education. The Design Thinking Action Lab’s wide reach allows Epicenter to make design thinking resources accessible to engineering students and faculty nationwide. The online format allows these engineers to forge valuable networks and relationships with participants in numerous fields and backgrounds around the world, from middle school teachers to artists to business founders.

We’ve profiled a few members of the class to show the wide range of perspectives and experiences.

Profiles

Melanie Thomas Genoa City, Wisconsin, USA Continuous Improvement Facilitator, Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company Sophomore engineering major, Milwaukee School of Engineering

Vignesh Vishwanathan Chennai, India Sophomore mechanical engineering major, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Wade Colburn Fallbrook, California, USA Senior biomedical engineering major, North Carolina State University

Cathy Stephenson Kirriemuir, Scotland Volunteer Community Councilor

Bryndie Beach Carmel, California, USA Home Community Manager

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