Maria C. Yang is the William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor of Mechanical Engineering, founder and director of MIT’s Ideation Lab, faculty director for academics for the MIT D-Lab, and associate director of the Morningside Academy for Design. Since July 2025, Yang has served as Interim Dean of MIT’s School of Engineering.
In her previous role as Deputy Dean of Engineering, she focused on bolstering undergraduate and graduate academic programming and contributing to strategic initiatives at the school and Institute levels in areas such as design, improving student experiences, and advancing opportunities for faculty support and mentoring, work that she had already begun through past and present department and Institute appointments.
Yang graduated from MIT with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering (1991), after which she headed to Stanford University where she earned a master’s (1994) and PhD (2000) from the mechanical engineering department’s design division. She joined the MIT faculty in 2007.
Yang is an internationally recognized leader in design theory and methodology, with a current focus on the role of design representations and both physical and AI-based tools for design. Her research considers early-stage processes used to create successful designs, from consumer products to complex, large-scale engineering systems, and their role on design outcome. Her contributions have been recognized by an NSF CAREER award, multiple best paper awards from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society of Engineering Education Fred Merryfield Design Award, as well as the 2024 ASME Design Theory and Methodology Award for sustained and meritorious contributions. She is a Fellow of the ASME and is the co-author of Product Design and Development, one of the most popular textbooks in the world on the topic. With a focus on teaching students how to uncover ways to improve design in the world around them, Yang created 2.00 Introduction to Design, and has taught undergraduate engineering design courses including 2.00B Toy Product Design and 2.009 Product Engineering Processes, and graduate course 2.739/15.783 Product Design and Development, in collaboration with the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Rhode Island School of Design. For her educational and mentoring efforts, she has been awarded the Ruth and Joel Spira Excellence in Teaching Award, the Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Capers and Marion McDonald Mentoring Award, the Earll Murman Award for Undergraduate Advising, and is a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, MIT’s highest teaching honor.
From her days as an undergraduate to her role as a faculty member, Yang has made an indelible mark on the School of Engineering and the Institute. In the Department of Mechanical Engineering, she served as Area Head for Design and Manufacturing as well as its Undergraduate Officer. She was the Chancellor’s Designated Representative for the Committee on Undergraduate Programs and was a member of the Corporation Joint Advisory Committee on Institute-Wide Affairs. She co-chaired a cross-Institute faculty committee on the future of design at MIT, and currently serves on an Institute task force on undergraduate programs.