Design for Extreme Affordability is a two-quarter project-based course hosted by Stanford’s d.school and jointly offered by the Graduate School of Business and the School of Mechanical Engineering. We focus on the development of products and services to improve the lives of the our poorest citizens. While the primary focus of the class is the issue of poverty, every year some projects include aspects of environmental justice, which often affects our poorest citizens more acutely. This multidisciplinary project-based experience creates an enabling environment in which students learn to design products and services that will change lives. Topics include user empathy, product and service design, rapid prototype engineering and testing, social entrepreneurship, business modeling, ethics, equity, partnerships, team dynamics and project management. Since the course was first offered, we have executed 175 projects with 79 partners. Many of the projects have been implemented and are achieving significant social impact. Latest information for prospective students here: https://extreme.stanford.edu/prospective-students

Instructors: Coulson, S. (PI) ; Kohn, M. (SI) ; Yeturu, M. (SI)