Principal Investigator Dennis Frenchman
Project End Date August 2020
DESx is an unprecedented thematic accelerator for entrepreneurial innovation in design and the built environment: a unique model tailored to support a novel form of entrepreneurship.
The mission of DESx is to ignite the entrepre- neurial potential of the SA+P student body, enabling the transformation of existing creative energy into viable innovations that sustainably augment the built environment. By forging links among students and professionals, DESx re-cali- brates education to evolving standards of perfor- mance and leadership in the world. DESx moves the pedagogy of architecture, planning, media, and real estate development more forcefully into the 21st century economy – one that is rapidly becoming digital, social, and innovation-driven.
The production of design is changing dramatically in the context of advancing digital technology, new social constructs of work, and globalization. We are now educating the first decisively ‘digital native’ generation, who have new ways of work- ing and new professional ambitions – ones that are increasingly entrepreneurial.
DESx will provide a platform for four stakeholder categories: alumni professionals, industry part- ners, metropolitan partners, and investors. These stakeholders will engage with the school by mentoring students, gleaning cutting edge inno- vations, infusing academia with real-world challenges, and gaining unique primary access to high growth-potential firms in the emerging domain of spatial innovation. Furthermore, there are strong trends toward increased availability of financial capital in the urban sector – $1.5B venture capital was invested in Real Estate Tech in 2015. There is a demand for firms that address urban challenges in an innovative way.
DESx will enrich the MIT innovation ecosystem through topical diversity, and stimulate a new category of economic growth emerging from the university. DESx will build on the resource pool at the MIT Innovation Initiative and augment the institute’s courseware with classes specific to ‘design entrepreneurship’. MBA students will have the opportunity to partner with teams to offer business development consultation, and the DESx board will include Sloan School of Man- agement faculty.