The world of manufacturing has changed drastically and tremendously during the last few decades due to the advancement of technology. In 2017, PwC global network of firm's base in the USA did a global study on 1200 companies and executives. Their result showed that 54% of the surveyed respondents struggled to align innovation strategies with their business strategies, and 72% of them said that they were not out innovating their competitors. On the other hand, 61% of the surveyed respondents embraced open innovation to generate new ideas.
The current needs for well-structured applied learning across the board is becoming a necessity to meet the ever-changing demand for creative design solutions to satisfy innovative manufacturing and improve human lives. Therefore, the upcoming new work forces must be well educated and appropriately trained from an early age. This requires a continues reviewing and upgrading of applied learning and applied design programs and curriculums. This paper focuses on 1) defining applied learning, applied education, applied design, and innovative manufacturing; 2) identifying the vital relationship between applied learning, applied education, applied design, and innovative manufacturing; 3) exploring existing programs that uses applied learning.