The Design Center for Global Needs has been the research and development component in the Department of Design & Industry (DAI). The Center promotes and fosters community, national and international curricular and research activities. The Center is dedicated to research and development that will lead to design solutions for local, as well as global issues, such as: universal design, design for the aging, disaster relief, affordable housing, community economic development and design for the environment.

The Center's aim is to push beyond the esoteric values of the conventional product market to address through design, education and practice, the needs of an expanding global community. It seeks environmentally responsible and user-friendly solutions to the traditional global problems.

The academic goals and objectives of the Center are to enhance the curriculum development in the DAI department, while stimulating the social awareness and responsibility of our students. These objectives have been accomplished through projects conducted in various design courses such as: "Universal Design Symposiums and Workshops;" Design for the Environment Product Applications;" "User-Friendly Packaging Seminars," "Design for Community Projects" and "Global Design and Cultural Identity." Students have been active participants in contributing to the success and growth of the Center by conducting research and collecting data through independent study assignments and internships.

The Center fosters a cross-cultural and diverse environment that promotes meaningful exchange amongst design scholars, students, and professionals, as well as manufacturers, consumers and the socially alienated. This type of dialogue is realized through lectures, seminars, workshops, courses of study research and development activities and publications.