All GEL Year 1 students must fulfill the Design & Innovation Leadership Requirement (D&ILR) by completing one from among the five course alternatives listed in the table below. Though MIT offers many design-related courses, these alternatives each provide uniquely wide coverage of the full product development cycle, spanning understanding user needs, early stage conceptualization, product realization, user testing, and design validation. Many other design courses stop short of covering this full cycle (often at prototyping). In order to offer students flexibility, GEL has worked to both develop courses and partner with other programs to provide alternatives that relate to different product domains and areas of interest. (See course descriptions four approved subjects to complete this requirment: 6.910A+6.910B (taken together in the same semester; 6.9101 also fulfills 6.910A), EC.797 (same as 2.729), EC. 720 (same as 2.722), EC.725, or 16.810.) The pair of half-semester subjects, 6.902a and 6.902b, are intended to be taken back-to-back (in the same semester); permission of the instructor is required if you must separate them due to extenuating circumstances. At present, no courses beyond those listed below may be used to satisfy the Design & Innovation Leadership Requirement.

GEL Year 1 students must be on track to complete their D&ILR before the end of GEL Year 1.