Undergraduate Major: Creative Technology and Design
The Bachelor of Science in Creative Technology and Design is a degree for makers, tinkerers and builders—creatives with a passion for inventing, who learn best by doing. Through project-based courses, you develop engineering, design and critical thinking skills, providing the versatility and breadth of knowledge to tackle complex projects that span multiple disciplines. During freshman and sophomore years, you mainly concentrate on College of Engineering and CTD core courses; in junior and senior years, you'll focus on areas that you're passionate about.
“I decided to attend CU Boulder because of the uniqueness of the program that ATLAS offers. I was inspired by my
instructors’ undying curiosity and true passion for the importance of interdisciplinary innovation.
As an individual who has never fit into one box, I felt perfectly at home in the ATLAS Institute.”
Cassandra Goodby
Senior Design Technologist, Amazon
Creative Technology & Design alum (BS & MS)
CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science ranks in the Top 20 Best Engineering Programs among public institutions according to U.S. News and World Report.
The ATLAS Institute's Creative Technology and Design programs boast 53% female-identifying students.
ATLAS students go on to work at Fortune 500 companies, design shops, startups, nonprofits, and universities—or start their own businesses.
Program Benefits
Unique Student Experience
Small class sizes offer hands-on project-based learning with mentoring and collaboration. Core classes empower you to build a strong foundation in design, technology and leadership. Elective options in ATLAS and across campus allow you to deepen your focus in many future-foward disciplines.
Highest Retention Among Engineering Majors
If you make the choice to study Creative Technology and Design, you're likely to stick with it. The CTD major has the highest retention rate of any major in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder: Almost 90% of those who start the degree graduate from the program.
Be Creative and Technical
CTD allows you to be both technical and creative. You don't have to choose just one! By the time you graduate, you'll feel comfortable working with many kinds of technologies and, thanks to a strong background in design, you'll be able to implement them with sensitivity and finesse.
Vibrant Community
CTD students identify strongly with their ATLAS community. Wherever you find yourself gravitating—the BTU Lab, the Sound Lab, the Helio Lab, B2 or one of the eight research labs—you'll have many opportunities to build lasting relationships in ATLAS.
Project Portfolio
Having a resumé listing your technical skills and competencies is valuable for all job seekers; if you can also share links to projects that show how you've put those skills to work, it's so much more powerful. Since most CTD classes are project-based, you'll graduate with a portfolio of work to share with future employers. It's how many of our students land their first jobs.
Future-Forward Careers
When you graduate with a degree in Creative Technology and Design, you'll be uniquely prepared to participate in the rapidly evolving job markets of the future. Rather than learning a set list of specific skills, you'll have a flexible technical toolset and powerful creative problem-solving skills that will be applicable to a wide range of careers.
Student Capstone Projects
During senior year, you'll complete a capstone project where you'll bring together the wide range of skills learned from Creative Technology and Design courses. These three short videos feature capstone projects by CTD alumni.
Kaleideo, by EO Rafelson
A unique planetarium light show using imagery generated by a physical kaleidoscope.
Dinner by Design, by Samia Juras
An interactive cooking app that provides step-by-step instructions and breaks down elements so users can mix and match.
Body, by Armon Naeini
Video game hardware is hacked to create an interactive, movement-tracking art installation.
ATLAS Institute Certificates
The ATLAS Institute nows offers two certificates:
- Design Technologiescertificate (12 credit hours) provides a fundamental understanding of information technology and digital media production.
- User Experience certificate (12 credit hours), offered in collaboration with the Department of Information Science, gives students the skills and vision to reimagine how humans interact with technology.
Careers
CTD can prepare you for a wide range of careers in existing and emerging fields. When you choose a focus area and then select projects that relate to that field, you develop specialized knowledge. Here is a small sampling of careers alumni have pursued:
- Motion graphics and animation
- Human-computer interaction
- User interface/user experience (UI/UX)
- Augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR)
- Digital content production
- Product design
- Video production
- Web design and development
- Graphic design & visual communication
- Gaming design and development
- Digital sound and electronic music
- Mobile app design and development
Companies Employing CTD Alumni
Curriculum
During freshman and sophomore years, you complete the College of Engineering core curriculum alongside CTD core courses. During junior and senior years, your coursework consists of electives in your focus area. This might be user interface and user-experience (UI/UX), sound design, interactive computing, robotics, internet of things, physical computing, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), game design, or any other field where having technical knowledge and design skills gives you an edge. In your final year, your will participate in a two-semester Senior Capstone sequence which involves a culminating project that brings together the diverse skills learned during your undergraduate career.
As a CTD student, you will have access to regular professional development opportunities, workshops and guest speakers. Many students also secure internships with industry partners and/or work in research and student labs.
See the BS CTD Curriculum page for in-depth explanations of all aspects of CTD coursework.
Note: A grade of C or better is required in all terminal Foundation, Core, and Capstone courses. Grades of C- or higher are required in all terminal Focus and CPT Electives. The minimum passing grade for a course that is considered a prerequisite for another course is C-.