SHENZHEN Institute of Advanced Technology and Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association have co-established a design institute, which will be launched with a ceremony Friday at the Civic Center.

Shenzhen Institute for Innovative Design will be the city’s first international, high-end design academy that integrates education, research and services.

The institute will set up a simulation design center, a product testing center and a solution development center this year. It also will cooperate with internationally known design institutes, including Parsons the New School for Design in the United States, to offer international training and long-distance education on design management, technology and teaching.

The institute plans to establish four research centers in the next two to three years, including an interactive experience center that focuses on color design, environmental design and communication design; a material application center that analyzes, tests and applies new materials; a technology utilization center that studies green industrial processes; and a knowledge application center that promotes the intellectualization of design, life and production.

Shirley Feng, secretary general of Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association, said she was impressed by the “learning for practice” model at Parsons the New School for Design when she visited the school last month.

“Design schools in Western countries stress practice and interdisciplinary education, which are exactly what we lack,” Feng said.

She said Shenzhen Institute for Innovative Design has been established to make up for that deficiency and will become a key generator of innovative, talented design professionals.