2026 (Current Year) Special graduate degree programs Specially Offered Degree Programs for Graduate Students Program by Academy of Super Smart Society
Transition Design Studio
- Academic unit or major
- Program by Academy of Super Smart Society
- Instructor(s)
- Takumi Ohashi / Sota Takagi / Hiroki Sato / Kenji Konishi
- Class Format
- Exercise/Experiment (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-8 Intensive (大岡山北3号館 1階多目的ホール)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- SEM.D510
- Number of credits
- 022
- Course offered
- 2026
- Offered quarter
- 3-4Q
- Syllabus updated
- Sep 4, 2026
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This is a Project-Based Learning (PBL) course in which students from diverse disciplines collaborate to envision future scenarios starting from societal issues, and to develop the products, services and systems (PSS) and social implementation strategies that realize them.
Following the methodology of Transition Design, students design and carry out a full program spanning the understanding of problem structures, visioning of preferred futures, ideation, planning for transition, and the verification (Proof of Concept: PoC) and refinement of solutions.
In particular, students carry out the conceptual design of the technological components (including semiconductor chips such as SoCs) that realize the proposed PSS, thereby practicing a thinking process that connects societal issues with technology, and with semiconductor technology.
Course description and aims
By completing this course, students will be able to:
1) Systematically analyze the structure of societal issues, and identify the relationships among issues and the leverage points where intervention is possible.
2) Envision a "preferred future" that is not a mere extension of the present, and describe a transition scenario toward it through backcasting.
3) Develop PSS ideas utilizing semiconductor technology from the future needs explored, and propose their technological components.
4) Construct a transition scenario, formulate a PoC plan, and refine ideas through verification.
5) Collaborate with team members of diverse expertise and with external stakeholders to drive a project forward.
Keywords
Transition Design, Semiconductor Design Orchestrator, SoC Architecture, Co-creation, Backcasting, Fieldwork, PBL
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
This course is conducted as Project-Based Learning (PBL) combining lectures, exercises, group work, fieldwork and coaching.
Students belong to teams composed of members with diverse expertise, and learn through practice along the steps of Transition Design: understanding problem structures, visioning and scanning preferred futures, intervention and ideation, planning for transition, PoC planning and refinement, and the final presentation.
Coaching sessions accompanying the team work are held outside class hours. External guest lecturers are invited at each step to bring in interdisciplinary perspectives.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction |
Overview of the course, basic concepts of Transition Design, mock-up making, experiencing "The Game" - a card game for learning semiconductor system architecture design, and sharing the image of the final deliverable. |
| Class 2 | Issue analysis 1 |
Learning issue-analysis methods from an external lecturer. Analyzing the theme from diverse perspectives (social, technological, economic, environmental, political, etc.) and structuring the issues. |
| Class 3 | Semiconductor lecture / Issue analysis 2 |
A lecture on semiconductors, and research on the issues and their causes related to the theme. Understanding the background of the fieldwork target region. |
| Class 4 | Visioning and scanning 1 |
Scanning startups, leading cases and deep-tech relevant to the team theme. Creating the seeds of a preferred future. |
| Class 5 | Visioning and scanning 2 |
Learning from advanced initiatives in the theme area, and formulating hypotheses of a preferred future and its scenario. |
| Class 6 | Preparation for fieldwork |
Learning the mindset and research methods for fieldwork. Building hypotheses on the theory of change and the intervention points that create change. |
| Class 7 | Solving issues with technology |
Learning approaches to the semiconductor business in preparation for ideation of PSS using semiconductors. |
| Class 8 | Fieldwork |
Each team conducts interviews and observations in the target region (a two-day, one-night trip is also envisaged). The timing is adjusted in class according to the availability of the field. |
| Class 9 | Conceiving the preferred future 1 |
Sharing the outcomes of the fieldwork and refining the preferred future. Devising multiple ideas and PSS to realize that future. |
| Class 10 | Conceiving the preferred future 2 |
Presenting team ideas and improving them based on feedback from external lecturers and other teams. |
| Class 11 | Semiconductor system architecture design |
Practicing semiconductor system design using card-game-based teaching materials. Conceiving an SoC architecture aligned with the future vision. |
| Class 12 | Idea refinement and design |
Presenting and elaborating the team idea and system design. Producing simple prototypes or conducting desk verification as needed. |
| Class 13 | Formulating a theory of change |
Learning the theory of change and building each team’s own theory based on its proposal. A lecture on presentation is included, and students learn storytelling for communicating with stakeholders. |
| Class 14 | PoC planning |
Designing the purpose, target, method and evaluation indicators of the demonstration experiment. Clarifying collaborating partners and organizing the steps toward realization. |
| Class 15 | Idea refinement 1 |
Presenting and elaborating the PoC plan. Confirming the core of the idea through simple prototypes or desk verification as needed, and compiling the system and idea for presentation. |
| Class 16 | Idea refinement 2 |
Obtaining feedback from stakeholders and related parties based on the verification results, and refining the idea. |
| Class 17 | Refinement of deliverables and pre-final presentation |
Integrating and adjusting deliverables for the final presentation. Conducting a pre-final presentation and review. |
| Class 18 | Final presentation and workshop |
Making overall adjustments toward the final presentation, and holding the presentation and workshop. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
Outside class hours, students carry out team group work, research and preparation of deliverables, and participate in coaching sessions that accompany the group work.
Textbook(s)
None specified. Materials are distributed in class.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
[Reference books]
- Irwin, T. (2015). Transition Design: A Proposal for a New Area of Design Practice, Study, and Research. Design and Culture, 7(2), 229-246.
- Birdman, J., Wiek, A., & Lang, D. J. (2022). Developing key competencies in sustainability through project-based learning in graduate sustainability programs. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 23(5), 1139-1157.
- Transition Design Seminar (CMU): https://transitiondesignseminar.net/
- SiCA Future Co-creation Design PBL booklet (2026)
[Teaching materials]
- Card-game teaching materials for semiconductor design education (e.g. "The Game" developed by IBM)
- Other course materials are distributed in class.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Grading is based on the following items.
- Process (participation in coaching and classes) 30%: engagement in lectures and field research, and responses during coaching sessions
- Deliverables and presentation 30%: quality of the use-case proposal, the proposal of technological components, the PoC plan and the final presentation
- Report 25%: reflection report
- Contribution to the team 15%: team activity across diverse backgrounds, and collaboration with stakeholders
Related courses
- None
Prerequisites
- No prerequisite courses. The course is not limited to a specific field of study; this year, students in electrical, electronic, information and communication engineering are especially encouraged to enroll.
- Because of the project-based nature of the course, the number of students is limited.
- Fieldwork in collaboration with corporate and regional partners (a two-day, one-night trip is also envisaged) is included, so off-campus activities take place.
- Students may be required to agree to a confidentiality undertaking.
Other
- The course consists of 18 sessions, with coaching sessions accompanying the group work held in addition to class hours.
- The final presentation event is planned to be held at an off-campus venue.
- External guest lecturers are invited at each step to bring in interdisciplinary perspectives.
- The timing of the fieldwork and the content of the sessions may change depending on the availability of the field sites and external lecturers.