Our Mission & Journey

Often when we speak to product design engineers, we hear them lament how unrealistic industrial designers are with their requests. And when we speak with industrial designers, we hear the counter-complaint that engineers have no appreciation for beauty and user experience.

Through our conversations with several designers and engineers, we've come to the conclusion that these tensions rise from the perceived division between the two roles. Our core belief is that every designer should know a little bit about engineering, and every engineer should know a little bit about design. We have been hard at work since our founding in May of 2024 to build a culture and community to cultivate this quality in our members.

As a student organization, we have the unique opportunity to build products that are truly human centered. We have access to world-class tools and equipment provided by the University of Texas. And thanks to generous donations from sponsors, we are able to fund products that most firms would deem unprofitable. The only thing that matters to our designers is that our work makes an impact. We primarily serve communities and organizations that surround us at the University.

We need your support!

LDL is not for-profit, and our dedicated team of designers have only one concern: making the best products for our clients. Thus, to continue to do our best work, we rely on donations from our generous sponsors. We appreciate donations of every size, and all donations will be immediately impactful. Upon receiving your contribution, we will send you a letter of thanks, as well as an invitation to the final presentation of our F25/S26 projects.

Interested in contributing to The Longhorn Design Lab? Email us at partner@longhorndesignlab.com.

How will your donation be used?

Donations are primarily used to help teams fund their projects. Throughout the year, teams present their work to a panel of judges. Projects that show promise are granted funding, which teams can use to make their ideas into reality. Teams use these funds to buy materials or get prototypes fabricated by vendors.