Bangalore: two NIIT group companies and Autodesk Inc have announced courses for design. NIIT and NIIT University will leverage design tools of Autodesk to offer a host of design programs. NllT University will set up a design lab and launch masters programs in design to support research and innovation. In addition, various specialized design programs will be launched for college students in verticals such as interface design, application design and media & entertainment design with an aim to create a pool of skilled manpower for these specific industries. For school students, NIlT will introduce design literacy programs to promote design thinking.

NllT along with Autodesk and a specially constituted Design Advisory Council, set up under the aegis of NIIT University, will be designing the curriculum.

“Just as IT helped India gain global recognition and spurred the growth of the service sector, about a decade ago, “Design Thinking” can be the differentiator that changes the economics of Indian workers and businesses and catalyzes the growth of the knowledge sector,” say’s the NIIT release.

“While the overall objective of this partnership is to promote design thinking in every job role, the programs will also develop skilled manpower for the rapidly growing Computer-aided Design (CAD) industry, which is estimated to grow at CAGR of 13.5 percent by 2015, per a recent report by Technavio,” says George Abraham, Director of Emerging Markets, Autodesk Education.