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From ship bridges and satellites to hospital intensive care units and construction site material flows – engineering, design, and business students are tackling society’s most complex challenges. The Product Development Project (PdP) course is one of the oldest interdisciplinary project-based courses in Aalto, celebrating 30 years and over 400 industry collaboration projects to date. 

Far from being outdated, PdP evolves with the times and continues to connect students and companies to create real impact. "PdP is represent Aalto in a nutshell, showing the value of interdisciplinary, interorganizational collaboration. Students bring novel perspectives to timely challenges, and the student teams have made a record amount of invention disclosures this year. In addition, PdP helps talent and companies find one another," explains prof. Tua Björklund, the teacher in charge of the course and director of the Design Factory co-creation hub. 

PdP combines interdisciplinary teams, real industry challenges, and freedom to experiment. In addition to being able to leverage the Design Factory prototyping labs, all student teams get a development budget to manage for the realisation of their project in eight months – as such, in the gala, you will see functioning solutions rather than just concept proposals.

The projects demonstrate how academic creativity and industry needs can jointly accelerate sustainable development across different sectors. At the Product Development Gala, it is time to reveal the results to the world. The project booths and prototypes are on display around the Design Factory, and visitors can interact with the students, test the prototypes, and get inspired by the atmosphere of the event. Doors are open from nine to five, and no registration is required.

For more information on the projects of 2026, see .