The cornerstone of this unique program is a sequence of courses that begins in the fall semester, and culminates four semesters later. The first course in this sequence is Advanced Product Design (APD). APD is a studio class that focuses on consumer product and user-centered design and helps equip students with the tools necessary to conceptualize innovative designs. APD is followed in the spring by Design for Manufacturability (DFM). DFM teaches students how to take their conceptual designs generated in APD, and transform them into products which are ready for manufacturing. Following APD and DFM, the Graduate Design projects course meets formally once per week, and is geared towards teams of students completing an industry-sponsored design project. In Graduate Design, the teams, composed of 3-4 students, have access to funds from the sponsoring company, and meet regularly with a mentor from the sponsoring company and a faculty advisor. Teams are tasked with delivering a near turn-key product at the end of the 9-month project.