At Duke’s Product Lab, we are not just building products – we’re building product leaders. Product Lab pairs Duke student product managers, designers, and builders with industry and university partners to design and deliver real-world technology products, including mobile applications, AI agents, hardware prototypes and more.
Not ready to apply yet? Sign up for our student mailing list to receive updates on the application period, info sessions, and more!
Masters of Engineering ’23“I worked with student teams, as well as internal and external clients, to conceptualize a product, design and prototype the product and actually develop it. The experiences I’ve had here allowed me to see more of that pipeline, especially the brainstorming and ideating, actually developing a concept for a product before you go into engineering.”
Effective Product Management is the cornerstone of successful innovation. Product Management encompasses market research, strategic planning, user experience design, and agile development methodologies. In our courses, we teach students these fundamental skills and give them opportunities to apply them as they learn to build their own product using AI pair-programming tools.
This course explores this intersection of the humanities and technology. Products are created in interdisciplinary teams through leadership, communication, experimentation, and critical thinking. Concepts covered include needs finding, ethical product development, market opportunity analysis, strategy, road mapping, & competitive analysis.
Product Management education experiences for students should anchor on apprenticeship-style, real world value delivery. In this course, student teams build usable software for real products using AI pair-programming tools. Prereq: I&E283
The Co-Curricular Product Lab allows students to build upon their experiences in the PM courses and apply their skills to develop new products for industry partners. Students in the PM role lead customer discovery & problem definition as well as oversee a team of builders (coders and/or engineers). Interdisciplinary teams collaborate on wireframe prototyping and shipping code. Iteration allows for ongoing feature refinement & expansion.
Central to our approach is the integration of student talent into every facet of the innovation process. We believe in the untapped potential of our students and empower them to drive real-world impact through hands-on experience. Through experiential learning opportunities, internships, and mentorship programs, we provide students with the skills, resources, and support they need to transform their ideas into market-ready products.
Oluwadarasimi (Dara) Ajiboye, Class of 2028, is a Computer Science major with an Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate who discovered his passion for product management early at Duke and has since built end-to-end PM experience through Product Lab, Code+, and coursework. Now a CFCI Fellow, Dara is excited to give back as a mentor and leader while continuing to grow as a product manager and educator within the Product Lab community.
Christensen Center Product Lab Fellow Jessie Chan combines her passion for psychology, technology, and collaboration to create meaningful solutions, drawing on experiences from Duke’s Product Lab and industry internships to mentor peers and help grow Duke’s culture of product innovation.
Meet Christensen Center Product Lab Fellow Andrew Dawson, a graduate student in Engineering Management. Andrew combines his passion for technology, empathy, and community to create meaningful products, building on his experience with startups and now helping shape Duke’s growing Product Lab community for the next generation of product leaders.
