2019-2020 Design Mentorship Program
Incubator at Sasaki
About Design Education
2019 SEED internship
Watertown, Massachusetts

2019 SEED students working on group projects
Incubator at Sasaki
SEED, sponsored by American Student Assistance, is an annual six-week paid internship structured holistically around introducing young high school students to the world of design. The program, which began in 2018, is an intensive deep dive into collaborative project work, office culture, and design fundamentals. The SEED program works closely with Sasaki to provide the students with access to world-class projects and the people who design them. Over the course of the summer, students work on their own group project, spend time with Sasaki professionals in design charrettes, learn valuable hand sketching and computer drawing skills, and so much more.
In 2020, the Sasaki Foundation translated this six-week internship into an online curriculum. We encourage students to explore SEED online and to apply for the SEED program when we open applications each spring.
The Sasaki Foundation Design Mentorship Program, launched in 2019 and sponsored by American Student Assistance, provides the opportunity for local middle school students to discover what is possible through the field of design. Through a monthly after-school program at the Incubator at Sasaki, students receive extensive exposure to the field of design as provided by Sasaki designers. Students are beginning to explore their interests in the field of design, and through the program are better exposed and more uniquely positioned to assess the future opportunities available to them.

2019-2020 Design Mentorship Program students exploring virtual reality technology
Incubator at Sasaki

2019 Architecture + Design Thinking Day students sketching with Sasaki designers
Incubator at Sasaki
Architecture + Design Thinking Day, an annual program in partnership with the Boston Society for Architecture, Boston Private Industry Council, and Boston Public Schools, is a one-day introductory career awareness initiative for high school students and serves as a pipeline for students interested in entering the SEED program. The day at Sasaki’s Chase Mills campus includes an office tour, an overview of design and how designers get motivated to enter the field, followed by a real design exercise, a student presentation of their designs, and one-on-one interviews with Sasaki designers to learn more about a career in design.

2019 Crimson Summer Academy students hear from Sasaki designers
Incubator at Sasaki

students exploring design through LEGO
Incubator at Sasaki