Interdisciplinary teaching has been a common practice in Industrial Design (ID) programs, and many of the projects being applied in ID studios or courses are sponsored by or in collaboration with external entities. In addition, user-centered design has made stakeholder engagement an undivided part of the design process. Therefore, many interdisciplinary projects that collaborate with non-design stakeholders require engagement with communities involved in the project. This study investigates the relationships among the
interdisciplinary project-based courses, the related communities, and student learning outcomes. Also, we are looking into the challenges that the faculty (especially ID faculty and programs) face in designing, creating, conducting, managing, and maintaining such projects in relation to collaborative efforts with the community. This study is a Work in Progress (WIP) and includes some data collected through qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys and interviews. Faculty, community representatives (selected and connected through some interdisciplinary project-based studios), and students are the main participants of this research study.