Announcing the 13th MFA Products of Design Thesis Presentations: May 7th!

We invite you to attend the 13th MFA in Products of Design Annual Master’s Thesis Showcase for the graduating 2026 class, live at the SVA Theatre on Thursday, May 7th from 4 – 9pm EST (GMT start time at 9pm). 19 master’s students will present their year-long thesis work, comprised of research, artifacts, services, experiences, and platforms.

If you are in NYC, please RSVP at this Eventbrite link to attend!

For those not in NYC, the event will be live-streamed and directly linked on our homepage. We welcome guests in all facets of design and innovation, including designers, entrepreneurs, teachers, advocates, talent scouts, journalists, and cultural critics.

MFA Products of Design Thesis Showcase 2026
Thursday, May 7, 2026
SVA Theatre: 333 West 23rd Street, NYC
4PM to 9 PM in NYC

In the meantime, enjoy some photos of previous Thesis Presentations below!

2026 Presenting students and topics:

Christiana (Ana) Aghjayan
The Language of the Road: From Noise to Nuance

Daniella Carmel Berg
Meshes of the City: Design for Interdependence

Ta-Shea Brown
Creativity to Enterprise: Art Education as a Pathway to Entrepreneurship

Sofia Grytsenko
Rekindling Joy: The Power of Play in Design

Qi Guan
Sensory Overload and the Reduction of Environmental Attention

Sophia Haase
Made By Hand: Reclaiming Analog Experiences Through Nostalgia

Benjamin Hone
Spectatorship: Instigating Sports Fans to Get Into the Climate Game

Lauren Palazzi
Holding On Differently: Reimagining Heirlooms in an Emphemeral World

Monty Preston
Entangle! Reconnecting to Wetlands Through Citizen Science

Rongfengyan (Eva) Mo
Between Presence and Production: Boundary Collapse in Remote Work

Carol (Zeyu) Tian
Expressing Anxiety (焦虑) in American Contexts

Gudrun Tholl Torfadottir
Designing Everyday Energy: Reimagining Renewables in the Home

Jessie Wang
"Table for One?": Building a Culture of Solo Dining

Danli (Rida) Zeng
Metaphor as Medicine: Revealing Meaning to Transform Chronic Pain

Haosen Zhang
Good Vibrations: Centering the Hum of Nature in Everyday Life

Tong Zhao
Why Parents Reach for Their Phones: Families and the Attention Economy

Shiyu (Lynn) Zhang
From Compulsive to Conscious: Using Somatic Rituals to Rewrite Behaviors

Sige Zheng
Sharing Waves: When Digital Nomads Meet Local Communities in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Qianyue Zhou
Performing Realness: Posting, Pressure, and Visibility on Social Media

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About the MFA in Products of Design
The MFA in Products of Design is an immersive, two-year graduate program that creates exceptional practitioners for leadership in the shifting terrain of design. We educate heads, hearts, and hands to reinvent systems and catalyze positive change. Graduates emerge with confidence, methods, experience, and strong professional networks. They gain the skills necessary to excel in senior positions at top design firms and progressive organizations, create ingenious enterprises of their own, and become lifelong advocates for the power of design.

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A Conversation with Sinclair Smith, Acting Chair, MFA Products of Design

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Designing from Real to Ideal: A Workshop with Ayse Birsel