World Industrial Design Day 2021: let's talk diversity

This World Industrial Design Day, we are listening, talking and celebrating diversity. Join us on the 28-29 June for a 24-hour virtual conference as we hear from designers around the world sharing their stories, reflections and experiences.

The icons below have been integrated into our programme to offer a better sense of the different sessions planned throughout the 24 hours.

Conversation

Workshop

Presentation

Break

The Programme

28 June

20:00 EDT

Let’s talk: diversity

WDO President, Srini Srinivasan and Managing Director, Bertrand Derome open our World Industrial Design Day conference with what diversity means at WDO and why this important theme was selected for 2021.

Natalie Dutil
Communications Manager
WDO

About Natalie

Natalie Dutil is a communications professional with over 10 years of experience in the non-profit and corporate sectors. Her work has varied to include public & media relations, product launches, store openings, local and international event management and internal corporate communications. Natalie joins WDO with an enthusiasm for communicating the oganization’s vision and mission of design for a better world. As the Communications Manager, she facilitates the development of content and ensures consistency and visibility across the organization’s roster of programmes.  

Srini Srinivasan
President
WDO

About Srini

Presently, Srini is the President of WDO (World Design Organization, formerly Icsid), working with its global members to promote design for a better world.

He is the Chairman & CEO of LUMIUM DESIGN, Inc., a Silicon Valley based, world class, award-winning product Design Company that has developed 300+ products in the Consumer Electronics, Medical, Industrial Goods, Security and Surveillance domains. Lumium has design studios in Santa Clara, (USA), Ahmedabad, Kochi & Mumbai (India) and in Tokyo, Japan to execute creative design projects for global clients.

Srini is an Adjunct Professor of Industrial Design at Tongji College of Design & Innovation, Shanghai and also a member of its International Advisory Board. He is on the Advisory Board of Indus Design School, Indus University; and Wellingkar Institute of Management Development & Research, Mumbai, India. In his role as Advisory Board member, Srini helps and mentors technology start-ups as well as educational institutes.

Bertrand Derome
Managing Director
WDO

About Bertrand

Bertrand is a not-for-profit organization manager and sustainable design advisor with more than 20 years experience. He is a confirmed lecturer who eagerly advocates for design’s social, environmental and economic impacts, for the betterment of the world. After graduating from the School of Design at Université de Montréal, he practiced design in a studio, as well as in a manufacturing company. He joined the Institute for Product Development as the Sustainable Design Advisor and became the general manager of the Institute in 2012, where he developed private and public partnerships, both locally and internationally, helping organizations improve their innovation practices. He has also served as President of the Quebec Association of Industrial Designers (ADIQ) in Montreal (Canada) and participates as an advisor on many public and sectoral committees and juries.

20:30 EDT

Icons can’t be our only history

Design history needs to put forward a more complex version that honors women, diversity, and gender beyond white men and iconic objects.

Amos Scully
Associate Professor
Rochester Institute of Technology

About Amos

Amos Scully is an artist, designer and educator working in dimensional form, materials, and surfaces through making based processes. His sculpture & installations have been exhibited across the United States, and paper presentations and workshops have been across Europe. Scully is an Associate Professor teaching Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology in the US. Scully’s professional art practice is collaboration with his wife Stephanie Ashenfelder who’s creative practice investigate time-based concepts, often implicating or involving the viewer. This coming year he will be researching at the Design Lab on garments and aging at TU Delft in the Netherlands.

21:00 EDT

La Casa Rosada: A Safe Space for All

Kevin and Grace, co-founders of La casa rosada in El Salvador, will discuss their journey to launch this project and how they realized their dream of creating a safe space where all designers feel seen, respected and included.

Roberto Juárez
Co-founder
LERO Studio

About Roberto

Roberto Juárez is an industrial designer based in El Salvador. Co-Founder and Creative Director of LERO Studio that co-designs solutions for human development and companies competitiveness. Also Co-Founder of IDWEEK that promotes a design community in El Salvador by creating spaces to share, learn and connect. Member of the Global Shapers San Salvador Hub, part of the global young leaders community of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. As a Shaper he has been leading and supporting projects with other youth organizations on topics like dialogue, democracy, gender equality, entrepreneurship and peace culture. Selected in 2017 as one of the most promising entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean by the U.S. Department of State as being selected for the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.

Kevin Bonilla
Industrial Designer, Co-Founder
La Casa Rosada

About Kevin

Kevin Bonilla is an industrial designer, artisan and small business owner from El Salvador. He understands that a product can become a part of a person’s life – if it’s functional, attractive and with a value beyond the matter. Kevin has a special admiration for the traditional way of making, especially with ceramics, through which he is able to tell a story through his products and processes to bring value to the lives of the people involved.

Grace Jiménez
Industrial Designer, Co-Founder
La Casa Rosada

About Grace

Grace is an Industrial Designer from tiny El Salvador, where she strives to create through experiences and feelings. She likes to create personal connections through education, between people, the environment and herself. She dreams that Designers in general can evolve and grow through empathic design.

21:30 EDT

Designing Against Gender-Based Violence

In this session, 3 participants from the Generational Equality Design Challenge will reflect on their experiences as part of this initiative and share their thoughts on the importance of community representation.

Martha Patricia Zarza Delgado
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
Faculty of Architecture and Design

About Martha

Associate Professor in the undergraduate program of Industrial Design and both the master and PhD programs of Design of the UAEM. Currently head of the school of Architecture and Design of the UAEM. Research project focus in sustainable technology to provide clean water and energy to women in extreme poverty in rural Mexico.

Maria Bates
Lecturer in Screen and Design
Deakin University

About Maria

Maria Bates has a background in communication design, built environment, interactive storytelling, and functional object design. She is a design academic at Deakin University in Melbourne Australia, lecturing in design strategy, collaborative design, and design activism. Her research focuses on how human centred design methodologies align with health and social science research frameworks to empower communities recovering from trauma, by developing preventative and education-based programs that incorporate visual and interactive storytelling tools. Maria regularly partners with NFPs and NGOs to solve issues they face through a transdisciplinary and collaborative approach. She recently received a Deakin University Vice-Chancellor’s Award for her contribution to the communication campaign for the Alcohol Culture Change Project. This project received the UniSport Australia Award for Community Leadership and was a finalist for the 2019 VicHealth Awards.

Neha Mann
Product Designer
Microsoft

About Neha

Neha Mann is a Design Researcher turned UX Designer, who has a vested interest in women’s health and rights. She has worked on projects across healthcare to education technology in rural India. On moving to the US, she designed digital tools for women living with HIV in America and for chronically ill children and their caregivers. In her free time, she writes and publishes papers about design as a medium for social impact. She currently designs video related experiences at Microsoft.

Lorena Garcia Giron
Co-Founder
Co/Créa Studio

About Lorena

Designer of Mexican descent established in Montreal since 2006, Lorena strives to find the right solution through responsible design to influence positive change through her multidisciplinary background and range of craft. She does not fit into a single well defined box and she doesn’t intend to. Co-founder of Co/Créa Studio in Montréal since 2017, her interdisciplinary practice is one committed to translating missions into meaningful brands, products and services that share a set of values for the common good. Facilitating the advancement of creativity and innovation in organizations through her skills and talent to communicate and translate visually meaningful messages, as well as creating communities that are bound by common interests and values. Her approach is guided by a multicultural vision gathered through her journey of living in 5 countries and 15 cities prior to Montreal. She combines traditional craftsmanship, digital manufacturing, critical thinking, research and sustainable development to deliver both responsible and innovative proposals. 

22:30 EDT

DESIGN STRUGGLES: INTERSECTING HISTORIES, PEDAGOGIES AND PERSPECTIVES

In this presentation, Nan will discuss the motivations, opportunities, challenges, and outcomes of work done to facilitate the use of indigenous knowledge into design education in New Zealand.

Nan O’Sullivan
Associate Dean and Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington

About Nan

Nan O’Sullivan is an Associate Dean and senior lecturer in Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka’s, Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation. She is also currently the Deputy Head of the School. Her scholarship questions, debates and demonstrates through process and practice the roles and responsibilities of both design and designers in society. A specific emphasis of Nan’s work is the incorporation of indigenous, place-based knowledge as a critical component within the discipline of design as well as the pedagogy delivered. Taking an inclusive approach Nan endeavors to embrace diversity as a mean to introduce students and the discipline to the multiplicities and intricacies of the design world, its vocabulary, and its possibilities.

23:00 EDT

Learning from Each Other

In this session, Manisha the CEO of the Centre for inclusive design and Eloise, one of the team’s designers, will interview each other investigating how their diverse portfolio backgrounds lend to their team’s inclusive design practices. The interactive session will showcase how we all learn from each other’s diverse experiences when we want to create an inclusive world.

Dr. Manisha Amin
CEO
Centre for Inclusive Design

About Manisha

Manisha is the chief strategist and visionary at Centre for Inclusive Design. With a background in strategic marketing, communication, transforming cultures and creativity she is a thought leader in the power of thinking from the edge. Manisha has a unique talent for seeing beyond the horizon to emerging trends, defining them and building powerful communities to bring them in to being. Manisha has completed a Bachelor of Business Marketing, Master’s of Professional Writing and PhD on Communication and Social Enquiry.

Eloise Cleary
UX and Interaction Designer
Centre for Inclusive Design

About Eloise

Eloise is a Product and Experience Designer with a strong passion for inclusive design practices. Through her work, Eloise aims to design products and systems that redefine the negative connotations around disability and invite inclusive conversation. Eloise works at the Centre for Inclusive Design, a centre of excellence for Inclusive Design and Psykinetic, a social business, transforming emerging technology into inclusive technology to improve independence and quality of life for people with high-level disabilities. Eloise’s Product Design (Honours) degree and industry experience have provided an in-depth understanding in design thinking and creative problem-solving skills. Eloise’s user-centred design approach has seen her working with a range of clients including the Digital Health Agency, National Disability Insurance Agency and Services Australia on a wide range of projects designed to support people with disability as well as other areas of inclusion.

23:30 EDT

DIVERSITY IN DESIGN: MY POINT OF VIEW

Richard will discuss his perspectives on radically inclusive design, and why there is often a disconnect between designers and who they design for.

Richard Hsu
Adjunct Professor
School of Design and Innovation, Tongji University

About Richard

Richard Hsu is the founder and curator of TEDxShanghai, responsible for bringing together the most thought-provoking change-makers in China and around the world. Hsu is also the co-founder of Pan-Asia Network in 2013, a collaborative of Asian and International creatives from across 35+ cities. He has accumulated 40+ years of creative and brand experiences in companies such as the New York Times, Sotheby’s, Museum of Modern Art, Madison Square Garden, L’Oreal, Boeing, Sony, Isetan, Warner Music, Shiseido, Condé Nast, Wieden+Kennedy, Nike, Adidas. Since 2009, Hsu is a Professor of Practice at Tongji University School of Design and Innovation in Shanghai, and The Foreign Trade Counselor of Luxembourg to China.

29 June

00:00 EDT

CULTURAL & GENDER DIVERISTY IN KOREA

In this session, you will meet five members of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) with different backgrounds, experiences, genders, and ages. They will introduce you to various stories on the current situation regarding cultural and gender diversity in Korea, as well as relevant initiatives and activities taking place at KIDP. You will also be able to hear from them the roles and responsibilities of designers in making this world a more inclusive place for everyone.

Eunjoo Maing
Executive Managing Director
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)

About Eunjoo

Eunjoo Maing is the Executive Managing Director of Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), a national organization affiliated with the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE). She is in charge of design R&D, design education & training, awards and exhibitions, international businesses and KIDP’s overseas offices in China (Beijing, Yiwu and Shunde) and Vietnam.
Eunjoo has been serving as a regional adviser of World Design Organization (WDO) since October 2017 when she completed two terms of her commitment as an Executive Board member for four years between 2013 and 2017. She currently sits on the non-executive boards of Korean Women Designers Association, Korea Society of Design Science, etc.
Eunjoo studied Sociology at Ewha Womans University in Seoul and gained a master’s degree in Curating Contemporary Design from Kingston University in London, UK. She is a recipient of the UK government’s prestigious Chevening scholarship.

Jeongman Song
Head of Global Expansion Division
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)

About Jeongman

Jeongman is the Head of the Global Expansion Division at Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP). He received his EMBA from Aalto University in 2007. In 2010, he acted as a research scholar for one year at University of Washington, USA. Three years ago, he resided in Vietnam for one year to establish ‘Vietnam-Korea Design Center’.

Nara Suh
Lead Manager
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)

About Nara

Nara is a Lead Manager at Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP). She is responsible for overseeing global design activities relevant to educating and nurturing young designers at KIDP. Her work includes various projects including the International Integrated Design Camp and Global Design Internship Program. Interestingly, she has no background in design, having studied and worked in the political science field prior to joining KIDP.

Minyoung Park
Manager, Global Expansion Division
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)

About Minyoung

Minyoung is a manager in the Global Expansion Division at Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), a government organization affiliated with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea.
She has served pivotal roles within the organization managing its international cooperation and global projects since 2012. Her work stretches over a wide spectrum that includes strengthening global network and collaborations, organizing exhibitions and marketing events, and building a designers’ community. She is currently overseeing the international public relations of KIDP, contributing to elevate the global visibility of the organization.

Inho Lee
Manager
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)

About Inho

Inho studied visual design at Seoul National University of Science and Technology and is now pursuing a Ph.D. program related to design convergence. He is currently a manager at the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), a national design organization established by government. At KIDP, Inho has a key role in nurturing young design talent in Korea.

00:30 EDT

The Need for Diversified and Decentralized Upcycling

Single use trash problem cannot be solved with centralized recycling and remanufacturing infrastructure due to the ever more diversified trash sources, environmental/raw material pollution potentials, significant embedded footprint in global transportation, international legal custom restriction and finally uneconomical financial cost. ESG solution to make upcycling our single-use trash must be in some form of decentralized infrastructure with diversified placemaking business model to incentivize local activists, NGOs, Entrepreneurs, government officials and designer and architects to collaborate on a multidisciplinary platform. The question now is not whether upcycling is possible technologically, but whether these diversified environmental solutions can create an equitable society of tomorrow’s economy.

Shikuan Chen
Chief Design Officer
Compal Electronics

About Shikuan

Shikuan is currently Chief Design Officer of Compal Electronics, a company which is responsible for a quarter of the Laptop Computer built worldwide today. And he leads a team of more than 350 computing and communication/mobile devices design experts, which he is responsible for building a strategic Innovation portfolio & roadmap for the company, as well as for the IT industry. Since joining the company, Compal’s iF DESIGN AWARD Creativity Ranking went from below the 200th position in 2008 to 6th in 2021, among 5000+ companies worldwide.

Shikuan serves on design competition juries internationally and teaches part-time at the Taipei Shih-Chien University as well. His speeches, seminars, and articles have been widely published in Taiwan and China.

Shikuan currently also serves as a consultant for governmental organizations in Taiwan, including the Taiwan Design Research Institute, and is also the Regional Advisor of World Design Organization, as well as an Ambassador of Good Design Award Australia.

Arthur Chian Chi Huang
Founder
MINIWIZ

About Arthur

Arthur is a structural engineer, architect, and leader in circular economy innovation with MINIWIZ, a trash material technology company he started in 2005. The mission of MINIWIZ is to UPCYCLE decades of single-use environmental “pollution” into sustainable smart building “solution” of the future.

Under Arthur’s leadership, MINIWIZ has received numerous international invention patents in manufacturing
processes / mechanical assemblies to enable circular consumption. Arthur was recognized by various
international institutions including the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneer Award, Obama’s
Emerging Leader, the Financial Times’ Earth Award, and The Wall Street Journal’s Asian Innovation Award.
Arthur has been a National Geographic Emerging Explorer since 2016 and the World Economic Forum
recognized him as the Runner up for The Circular Leadership Award 2019 Davos. In February 2019, the World
Economic Forum named MINIWIZ as one of the top 11 companies leading the way to a circular economy.

01:00 EDT

Enabling DEI culture in education and workplace

Many of companies and organizations miss the mark when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion or worse, engage in performative activism. This conversation will explore the challenges and benefits of empowering DEI in the workplace.

Rohit Lalwani
Community Liaison India, WDO & Director Industry Relations, MIT group of institutions

About Rohit

Rohit leads WDO activities in India, where he engages with the local members & the community on behalf of WDO. Additionally, he is the director of Industry Relations at MIT group of institutions, India, a Podcasters and a parallel entrepreneur.

Tina Vinod
Global Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
ThoughtWorks

About Tina

Tina is a feminist at heart with a strong belief that an inclusive organizational culture brings about the best in teams and individuals. She drives the Diversity and Inclusion charter at ThoughtWorks. She has played various strategic & leadership roles in her 20+ years of work experience.

02:30 EDT

DESIGN FOR FIGHTING MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA

The recent pandemic has led to unprecedented anxiety and mental disorders growth. This session explores how design can become a tool for forging connections between mentally disabled youth and the world around them.

Anna Lychagina
Head of Futurelab

Siberian Design Centre

About Anna

A young lecturer with over 4 years of industrial design experience, Anna works with leading Russian universities, government-linked companies and forum sites on topics including industrial design, innovative entrepreneurship, food design, national identity in design.

In 2020, Anna was also involved in organizing and conducting scientific and popular scientific events in the field of industrial design such as the Siberian Industrial Design Days and the Soyuz-Apollo 2020 conference dedicated to the design in the space industry.

03:00 EDT

THE THREE LAYERS OF DIVERSITY

Gender, sexual orientation and race are just part of the first layer of diversity. In this session we will explore the three layers of diversity.

Nan O’Sullivan
Associate Dean and Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Architecture and Design, Victoria University of Wellington

About Nan

Nan O’Sullivan is an Associate Dean and senior lecturer in Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka’s, Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation. She is also currently the Deputy Head of the School. Her scholarship questions, debates and demonstrates through process and practice the roles and responsibilities of both design and designers in society. A specific emphasis of Nan’s work is the incorporation of indigenous, place-based knowledge as a critical component within the discipline of design as well as the pedagogy delivered. Taking an inclusive approach Nan endeavors to embrace diversity as a mean to introduce students and the discipline to the multiplicities and intricacies of the design world, its vocabulary, and its possibilities.

Sobhi Khatib
Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Diversity & Inclusion Instructor Program Manager

Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

About Sobhi

Sobhi Khatib has worked with over 70 organizations across different sectors to assist them with advancing their inclusivity, communications, strategy and innovation. To name a few of the organizations Sobhi has worked with: Aljazeera, Netflix, United Nations and Amnesty International. Currently, Sobhi is Programme Manager at the Digital Society School (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences). The program focuses on designed system change within organizations based on public values (e.g. transparency, democracy and good governance). In addition, he is a freelancer trainer, storyteller and a speaker. Sobhi has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (Derby University, UK) and has obtained a Master’s degree in Human Rights & Conflict Management (Sant’Anna University, Italy).

03:30 EDT

Building a unique lens to DEI with design

The session looks at the two sides of the coin and taking an inside/outside perspective to DEI. We will discuss how designers can make a more inclusive world, the outside perspective. And how can the design industry be more diverse and inclusive within itself, an inside perspective.

Rohit Lalwani
Community Liaison India, WDO & Director Industry Relations, MIT group of institutions

About Rohit

Rohit leads WDO activities in India, where he engages with the local members & the community on behalf of WDO. Additionally, he is the director of Industry Relations at MIT group of institutions, India, a Podcasters and a parallel entrepreneur.

Udhaya Kumar Padmanabhan
Global Strategic Design Director
Designit, a Wipro company

About Udhaya

Udhaya is a seasoned Executive Design leader with 25 years of hard-core “from the trenches” experience. He has designed for numerous business verticals across the globe. His career spans Design Leadership and Management, Strategy, Research, Service Design, Product Management, Front-end engineering, User Experience (Information, Interaction and visual design), CX, Delivery and Operations.

04:00 EDT

Diversity dialogues in India

Opening a two and a half hour session on diversity in India, Udayant and Pradyumna will welcome participants to learn more about diversity in healthcare, lifestyle brands and in the private sector. They will also official open the CII Young Designer’s Awards.

Pradyumna Vyas
Senior Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry & Board Member World Design Organization

About Pradyumna

Prof Pradyumna Vyas was the former Director of National Institute of Design (NID), India’s premier design institute. He is currently a Senior Advisor of Design Promotion and Innovation at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier industry association and a Board of Director of the World Design Organisation (WDO).

Prof Vyas acquired a Masters in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and was awarded an ‘Honorary Master of Arts’ degree in 2010 from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, United Kingdom.
With more than 35 years of professional and teaching experience in different spheres of design, Prof Vyas had been associated with NID for 30 years, first as a faculty member and later on as the Director of the institute (2009 – 2019).

He has been conferred with multiple awards in recognition for his contributions to design education and promotion, to name a few, World Education Congress, 2015, awarded him for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Education’; he was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Times Education Icons 2017.

In 2019, he has been awarded the honor of ‘Good Design Fellow’, by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), Tokyo. Prof Vyas was appointed as a ‘Distinguished Professor’ of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, China, at the Shanghai Global design Summit, 2019

Udayant Malhoutra
Chairman, CII National Committee on Design (2021-22)
CEO & MD, Dynamatic Technologies

About Udayant

Udayant has successfully initiated, nurtured and scaled to industrial size, various technologies associated with all three sciences; physics, chemistry and biology.

He is the CEO & Managing Director of Dynamatic Technologies Limited, a world class design, engineering and manufacturing company which designs and builds highly engineered products for Hydraulic, Automotive, Aeronautic and Security applications. Dynamatic Technologies Limited is a leading private R&D organization with numerous patents and inventions to its credit, and partners marquee customers like Airbus, Boeing, Bell Helicopter, BMW, Audi, Daimler, Mercedes, John Deere and Cummins on a single source basis.
Udayant has been associated with Dynamatic Technologies for three decades, and, drives the leadership team of the company in transforming it into a knowledge based organization. In addition to being the CEO & Managing Director of Dynamatic Technologies, he is also the Chairman of Eisenwerk Erla GmbH, Germany, and Dynamatic Limited, UK.

He is the Chairman of the National Sector Skills Council for Strategic Manufacturing, and has recently been appointed Chairman of the new National Institute of Design, Amravathi/Vijaywada. He is a member of Cll National Council, and has chaired the Cll National Committees on Design and Technology.

04:15 EDT

CREATING PERFORMANT TEAMS THAT REPRESENT! A CASE FOR DIVERSITY

How do inclusive, diverse teams help, and what does diversity mean in design, business, and cultural context of India? Peyush will share his experience of building highly successful, diverse teams globally and in India, and principles he has discovered along his personal and professional journey.

Pradyumna Vyas
Senior Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry & Board Member World Design Organization

About Pradyumna

Prof Pradyumna Vyas was the former Director of National Institute of Design (NID), India’s premier design institute. He is currently a Senior Advisor of Design Promotion and Innovation at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier industry association and a Board of Director of the World Design Organisation (WDO).

Prof Vyas acquired a Masters in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and was awarded an ‘Honorary Master of Arts’ degree in 2010 from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, United Kingdom.
With more than 35 years of professional and teaching experience in different spheres of design, Prof Vyas had been associated with NID for 30 years, first as a faculty member and later on as the Director of the institute (2009 – 2019).

He has been conferred with multiple awards in recognition for his contributions to design education and promotion, to name a few, World Education Congress, 2015, awarded him for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Education’; he was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Times Education Icons 2017.

In 2019, he has been awarded the honor of ‘Good Design Fellow’, by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), Tokyo. Prof Vyas was appointed as a ‘Distinguished Professor’ of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, China, at the Shanghai Global design Summit, 2019

Peyush Agarwal
Managing Director

Designit – Wipro

About Peyush

For more than two decades, Peyush has built and led diverse consulting as well as in-house teams, designing innovative business strategies and product-service ecosystems for ambitious organizations around the world.

Peyush believes design to be an experiential discipline and a powerful tool of positive change for organizations and teams alike. He is passionate about helping organizations realize customer experience as a strategic brand asset and a key tool for sustained competitive positioning.

Peyush founded the award-winning Designit Bengaluru studio, now a part of the global Designit team of 800+ creative-strategists across 18 locations. One of the world’s largest strategic design firms, Designit (a Wipro company) helps its clients across numerous sectors to create products, services, and experiences that improve the way we all live, work, and do business.

 

04:45 EDT

DIVERSITY IN HEALTHCARE

As designers practicing Universal Design, we are tuned to think about diverse perspectives through human-centered mindset. Diversity becomes critical and almost sacrosanct when we are designing for healthcare.

Pradyumna Vyas
Senior Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry & Board Member World Design Organization

About Pradyumna

Prof Pradyumna Vyas was the former Director of National Institute of Design (NID), India’s premier design institute. He is currently a Senior Advisor of Design Promotion and Innovation at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier industry association and a Board of Director of the World Design Organisation (WDO).

Prof Vyas acquired a Masters in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and was awarded an ‘Honorary Master of Arts’ degree in 2010 from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, United Kingdom.
With more than 35 years of professional and teaching experience in different spheres of design, Prof Vyas had been associated with NID for 30 years, first as a faculty member and later on as the Director of the institute (2009 – 2019).

He has been conferred with multiple awards in recognition for his contributions to design education and promotion, to name a few, World Education Congress, 2015, awarded him for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Education’; he was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Times Education Icons 2017.

In 2019, he has been awarded the honor of ‘Good Design Fellow’, by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), Tokyo. Prof Vyas was appointed as a ‘Distinguished Professor’ of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, China, at the Shanghai Global design Summit, 2019

Shaon Sengupta
Design Director & Head – India Design Studio

Philips

About Shaon

Shaon Sengupta is currently head of the India design studio of Philips. Her professional focus is design for healthcare across the health continuum, especially for vulnerable population. In her role as a Design Director, she partners with Innovation, Business and Market to cocreate healthcare solutions. She is set to create strategic competencies like service design, data design and design strategy beside UX design as the core competence in her studio. Her strengths are in creative direction, design organization strategies, quality and craft. She is also a passionate researcher and her area of academic research is around geriatric care. Shaon has won multiple design awards, including 2 Red Dots and 3 iF design award. She has also published seven international papers and presented them in conferences like CHI and Service Design and Innovation Conference.

05:30 EDT

DESIGNING FOR DIVERSITY IN FASHION AND LIFESTYLE

Lifestyle and fashion products idealized stereotypical standards of beauty: light eyes, fair skin, straight hair and perfect symmetry. Lifestyle fashion is always designed for exclusivity. This session will break down gender-inclusivity in products and how we can embrace all to produce stories that have a larger social impact.

Pradyumna Vyas
Senior Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry & Board Member World Design Organization

About Pradyumna

Prof Pradyumna Vyas was the former Director of National Institute of Design (NID), India’s premier design institute. He is currently a Senior Advisor of Design Promotion and Innovation at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier industry association and a Board of Director of the World Design Organisation (WDO).

Prof Vyas acquired a Masters in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and was awarded an ‘Honorary Master of Arts’ degree in 2010 from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, United Kingdom.
With more than 35 years of professional and teaching experience in different spheres of design, Prof Vyas had been associated with NID for 30 years, first as a faculty member and later on as the Director of the institute (2009 – 2019).

He has been conferred with multiple awards in recognition for his contributions to design education and promotion, to name a few, World Education Congress, 2015, awarded him for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Education’; he was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Times Education Icons 2017.

In 2019, he has been awarded the honor of ‘Good Design Fellow’, by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), Tokyo. Prof Vyas was appointed as a ‘Distinguished Professor’ of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, China, at the Shanghai Global design Summit, 2019

Mahendra Chauhan
Design Head – Watches & Wearables

Titan Company Limited

About Mahendra

Mahendra Chauhan is currently heading the watch & wearable team of Titan. He studied industrial design at NID Ahmedabad and architecture from NIT Raipur. He has been working for more than 14 years designing consumer durable and lifestyle products. His work has been produced in many countries and he has won many prestigious national and international awards in product design. He has been awarded the Red Dot design award for designing the world’s slimmest watch for Titan Edge. He has also been awarded a Good Design Award by Japan Design Council in 2014.

His works have been published in leading international books and design websites. His work is displayed at Red Dot Design Museum in Essen and Singapore. He had also won Rado design excellence award and the Design-boom award for innovative product concepts.
Mahendra is playing a very active role in defining Titan’s watch design strategy by leading and managing the entire watch & wearable portfolio of Titan. He spearheads the team with a very positive belief that design differentiation can only happen if we understand the consumers. He believes design begins with sensitivity, curiosity, and passion.

06:00 EDT

Diversity: To Build a Better Future

The world today is undergoing a big transformation, the biggest we have seen in the last 100 years. As we look to the future, it’s important that we build towards a world that’s more inclusive, empathetic and everyone feels an equal sense of belonging. Please join us as we explore the need for diversity in design and the ways to build a better tomorrow.

Pradyumna Vyas
Senior Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry & Board Member World Design Organization

About Pradyumna

Prof Pradyumna Vyas was the former Director of National Institute of Design (NID), India’s premier design institute. He is currently a Senior Advisor of Design Promotion and Innovation at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), India’s premier industry association and a Board of Director of the World Design Organisation (WDO).

Prof Vyas acquired a Masters in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and was awarded an ‘Honorary Master of Arts’ degree in 2010 from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, United Kingdom.
With more than 35 years of professional and teaching experience in different spheres of design, Prof Vyas had been associated with NID for 30 years, first as a faculty member and later on as the Director of the institute (2009 – 2019).

He has been conferred with multiple awards in recognition for his contributions to design education and promotion, to name a few, World Education Congress, 2015, awarded him for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Education’; he was awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by Times Education Icons 2017.

In 2019, he has been awarded the honor of ‘Good Design Fellow’, by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), Tokyo. Prof Vyas was appointed as a ‘Distinguished Professor’ of Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, China, at the Shanghai Global design Summit, 2019

Nikhil Bagalkotkar
Technical Sales Leader, APAC
Autodesk

About Nikhil

With over a decade of experience across various facets of technology sales and marketing, Nikhil had the opportunity to work with most large enterprise organisations in India. He has specialised in assisting organisations conceptualise, design and execute transformational solutions backed by technology. His career in the technology sector has enabled him to architect solutions around information management, workspace re-invention, future of design and digital transformation.

As the Head of Technical sales focusing on the AEC segment, he leads a diverse multicultural team representing the top talent in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industry across India, ASEAN and Australia-New Zealand.

06:30 EDT

Women in design

This online conversation will gather a unique group of women from WDO’s past and present, including existing female board members, regional advisors and two past presidents to discuss gender diversity and leadership in design.

Anne Asensio
Vice President of Design Experience

Dassault Systèmes

About Anne

Anne Asensio is Vice President of Design Experience at Dassault Systèmes. She founded the DESIGNStudio, a multidisciplinary team in innovation strategy by design, design research, design management. We deliver Design excellence strategy to support Dassault Systèmes’ vision, equity and purpose.

Our mission is to reveal the full potential of Design to clients and citizens through Upstream Thinking, design methodologies and meaningful innovation projects impacting life and environment in a sustainable and preferable way.

Luisa Bocchietto
Architect and designer

About Luisa

Luisa works as a designer and architect in both the public and private sector, carrying out projects aimed at local development, urban reclamation, and renovation. Her projects and products are published on various specialized magazines. She has contributed texts on architecture and design for various publications, has organized exhibitions (Pop Design, D come Design) as well as attended conferences and served on international juries. Luisa also cooperates as visiting professor with universities and design schools. Luisa served as President of WDO from 2017-2019. As a past president, Luisa serves on the governing council of the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI). She is also a past president of the Association of Architects in Biella and was a member of the organizing committee for World Design Capital 2008 Torino.

Geetha Narayanan
Founder Director
Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology

About Geetha

Dr Geetha Narayanan is an academic, a scholar and an institution builder with over four decades of experience in the fields of education and change. Well known as the Founder Director of Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology Geetha has served on the Board of Icsid (now the World Design Organization; has been a Director’s Fellow at the Media Lab at MIT , USA and has contributed as a visiting faculty to the Future of Learning Summer Institutes held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education USA. Geetha currently holds the UNESCO Chair in Culture Habitat and Sustainable Development at Srishti, She is also Principal Investigator of Project Vision, an international research collective.

Mary Mullin
Chairman of the Sir Misha Black Awards for Distinguished Services to Design Education

About Mary

Mary Mullin is Chairman of the Sir Misha Black Awards for Distinguished Services to Design Education, based at the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 in London, Trustee of the Robin and Lucienne Day Foundation and Regional Adviser to the World Design Organisation – WDO.

She served as Secretary General of the International Council of Graphic Design (ICOGRADA now ICO-D) for just fourteen years and as a founding Trustee for the ICOGRADA Foundation. She was the first woman to be elected to the Board or the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design and served as Vice President. She developed the Interdesign Programme for ICSID and advised on events in both the Republic and Northern Ireland, Serfaus and Vienna (Austria), Belgium, Canada, Mexico.She was and remains as a Founder Member of the Crafts Council of Ireland. She has been a consultant for UNIDO in Latin America and was National Chairman of the Design and Industries Association in the UK. She was a Director of the British Professional Conference Organisers Association. She worked on the Corporate Foundation of W R Grace & Co in New York and in Kilkenny Design Workshops in Ireland . She was Founding Director of the National Centre of Culture and Arts in Dublin (now the Museum of Modern Art) She ran her own consultancy practice in design and special event management in London from 1981 to 1998. This included working with the V&A’s ‘Boilerhouse ’, the precursor to the Design Museum, Science Museum, Design Research Unit and other leading design practices and commercial clients.

Vesna Popovic
Adjunct Professor

About Vesna

Vesna Popovic, PhD is a Professor Emerita/Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. She was founder of the Industrial Design infrastructure in Brisbane, Queensland. She has worked as corporate and practicing industrial designer and ergonomics/ human factors consultant and was involved in international studies conducted by World Design Organization (WDO), UNDRO (United Nation Disaster Relief Organisation) and The League of Red Cross Societies. She served on the Executive Board of ICSID (now World Design Organisation -WDO) from 1997-2001 where she hold Education Chair 1997 – 2001 and South Pacific – South East Asia Region Portfolio (1997-2001). Vesna’s research focus is on experience and expertise and system design. She was founder and Director of People and Systems (PAS) Lab domain at QUT. She has a number of realized designs and some of them received significant awards. She is a recipient of Australian Research Council (ARC) grants (one Discovery and three Linkage grants). Vesna has published widely. Vesna Popovic is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and Fellow of the Design Research Society (UK). Since 2001 she has been an WDO adviser. She is a Fulbright scholar.

07:30 EDT

Inclusiveness and Diversity through Design

From València (Spain), this session will bring you the perspective of three creative professionals who have develeped social integration projects, and are using design as a tool for transformation and co-creation.

Silvia Flórez
Design Community Engagement Manager

World Design Capital Valencia 2022

About Silvia

Silvia Flórez is a cultural manager and independent publisher specialized in design content. She has a broad experience in conceptualizing and developing cultural projects focused on creative industries. As the founder of dxi magazine (Valencia, 2000), she has dedicated most of her life to promoting the values of design, as a writer, editor, professor and curator of contents related to art and creativity. She is currently in charge of engagement within WDC València 2022 ecosystem. Silvia holds a BA in Fine Arts (Universitat Politecnica de València) and a Masters in Publishing (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona).

Sara de la Mora
Communications Designer, Strategic Brand Consultant

About Sara

Sara de la Mora is a creative communications designer and strategic brand consultant. Her career includes working at tech companies such as Facebook, Yelp and Plug and Play, and award-winning design studios such as Atelier Works and Lavernia & Cienfuegos. Overall, she has worked for clients and teams in more than thirty countries across five continents. Recently, she has focused on personal projects with a cultural focus, using event design as a strategic means to enhance knowledge and connection between people and communities. She also mentors design students and is a visiting lecturer at universities.

Javier La Casta Vilar & Yvette García
Co-Founders
Trampolin

About Javier & Yvette

Javier La Casta Vilar is the founding partner, strategy and design director at Nectar Estudio, and Yvette García is a professional dancer and teacher. Together, they co-founded Trampolin, an inclusive creative platform, where they lead design projects and creative workshops for people with intellectual disabilities.

Sara Antolin
Visual Content Designer
World Design Capital Valencia 2022

About Sara

Sara Antolín is a graphic designer from Valencia, Spain. She is the author of THIS WAS MADE BY A WOMAN, a social movement that intends to not only rescue female role models within the design field but also explore why our word is designed by men and for men. She also runs the section design in feminine for WDC2022, where she periodically publishes articles on women in design.

08:00 EDT

Design for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development

Industrial design, through innovation and creativity, is essential for attaining the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs). Of great importance is the recognition that industrial design is central to SDG 9, innovation and sustainable industrialization and is a skill that needs to be nurtured and fostered. Acknowledging the key role of industrial design, UNIDO aims to strengthen countries’ industrial design capabilities to ensure that new designs lead to better products and processes. Our speakers in this session by UNIDO will share examples of the development of unique designs and innovative product lines that represent higher-value-added goods by manufacturers in developing countries and economies in transition.

Selma Prodanovic
Entrepreneur and Philantropist
Founder of Brainswork and 1millionstartups

About Selma

Named Startup-Grande-Dame by the media, Selma is an internationally awarded serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker, show host, angel investor and philanthropist. She is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs and creating a better future. In over 30 years, she considerably co-created the creative industries, the startup and the angel investing eco-systems throughout Europe. As Vice President of the European Business Angel Network, she is among the most influential women in European early-stage investing. A distinguished keynote speaker, Selma loves inspiring audiences across the world with her exciting entrepreneurial and personal experience. She is the host of the Masters of Angel Investing interview series and on special occasions she moderates noteworthy discussion. She authored two books and teaches the Art of Entrepreneurship at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.

Riccardo Savigliano
Chief, Agro-industries and Skills Development Division
UNIDO

About Riccardo

Riccardo Savigliano serves at UNIDO as Chief of the Agro-Industries and Skills Development Division, within the Department of Agri-Business. The Division consists of 35 colleagues at HQ and around 400 experts involved in project implementation. The AIS portfolio is built on interventions related to industrial development, including sustainable resource management, impact assessment, skills development, agricultural mechanization, digitalization, and creative industry as well as a number of commodity value-chain programs. Riccardo holds a PHD in Plant Pathology and Pest Management and conducted research on economic impact of agro-industries to local communities, including innovative models to identify and quantify externalities from agribusiness, land use and natural resource management.

Farrukh Alimdjanov
Industrial Development Officer, Innovation and Digitalization Division, Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation
UNIDO

About Farrukh

Farrukh Alimdjanov, an Industrial Development Officer at UNIDO, holds 28 years of experience in international organizations, as well as private and public sectors. As part of the UNIDO’s Innovation and Digitalization Division of the Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation, among others, he is responsible for formulation and implementation of the UNIDO technical cooperation projects focusing on industrial design, modernization, branding, enterprise competitiveness and digital transformation in Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, Asia and other regions. He holds a master’s degree in economic analysis and international development at CERDI, University of Auvergne, as well as a master’s degree in International Economic Relations at the Tashkent State Economic University.

Giulio Vinaccia
International Design Expert
UNIDO

About Giulio

Born in Caracas in 1957 to Italian parents, Giulio Vinaccia moved to Italy in 1985 and spent the years from 1997 to 2012 working with his brother Valerio in the area of industrial design, while also starting to take an interest in social design in his native Colombia in 1993. From 1996 to 2002, he worked with SEBRAE, the Brazilian Support Service for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, developing a dozen projects of design for craftsmanship in several communities of Brazil. In 2004, the Spanish government commissioned him to carry out a project to study the iconography of the Camino de Santiago. He subsequently worked to flank communities in critical condition in Sweden, Canada, Afghanistan and Egypt. Since 2009, he has been working with the development programmes at the UNIDO – United Nations Industrial Development Organisation – in China, Haiti and the five Caribbean states, Pakistan, Madagascar and seven southern Mediterranean countries. In 2015, he won the World Green Design Contribution Award and in 2016, together with UNIDO, the ADI Compasso d’Oro Award, the first one ever presented in the award’s history to the category of social design

Vladimir Rojanski
Development cooperation attaché
EU Delegation in Tunisia

About Vladimir

From the European Union Delegation in Tunisia, Mr. Rojansky is leading the development and implementation of the Tounes Whijetouna programme. This innovative programme aims to support the diversification of the Tunisian tourism offer by creating synergies between the sectors of tourism, crafts, design local products and cultural heritage. These synergies, to be effective, must be based on a qualitative strengthening of each of these sectors. The overall objective of the program is to contribute to the sustainable and inclusive economic development of Tunisia. One of the components of the programme is the Creative Tunisia project, implemented by UNIDO and co-financed by Italy, which works at the intersection of crafts and design to add value to the sector and promote job creation, and economic opportunities, especially in rural areas.

Shraddha Srikant
International Expert
UNIDO

About Shraddha

Shraddha Srikant has been working with UNIDO for over 5 years, implementing technical cooperation projects focused on building the global competitiveness of key Indian manufacturing industries. Shraddha has worked on facilitating technology benchmarking assessments, formulating industrial and institutional diagnostic assessments and action plans, structured expert dialogue, technology transfer mechanisms and a variety of technical and practical training programmes aimed at strengthening industrial ecosystems at the micro, meso and macro levels. She has worked with industries such as cement, pulp and paper and bicycles, focusing on facilitating exposure to global best practices, transfer and demonstration of best available technologies and firm-level hand-holding for industry units in these sectors. She has a Master’s degree in Development Economics from SOAS, University of London, and is also currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration in Technology Management from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.

Navruza Jalilova
International refugee protection expert
UNHCR Tajikistan

About Navruza

Navruza Jalilova is a young international development professional with ten years of experience working with the United Nations Organization in different roles and capacities. Currently, she is employed with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Tajikistan where she manages the refugee protection portfolio. She has solid field experience coupled with significant expertise in livelihoods programmes for refugees, fundraising and inter-agency collaboration. She is leading a number of initiatives to promote the refugee women empowerment through education and entrepreneurship. One of such initiatives has been launched in cooperation with UNIDO and focused on ensuring access to the hand made products produced by the refugee women from Afghanistan in the national and global markets. Navruza brings vision, energy and commitment to her passion of promoting women empowerment, especially among most vulnerable social groups. Navruza holds Master’ Degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. She is a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship, a highly competitive scholarship programme.

09:00 EDT

FOLLOWING NATURE’S LEAD: THE POWER OF DIVERSITY AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE AND PROSPERITY

To design a better world means that every citizen of this world plays a vital role as part of a ‘global design team’. Diversity is a key anchor to catalyze and ignite systemic change on a grand scale. In this discussion, the role of diversity will be explored within and beyond design and the creative industries.

Suné Stassen
Founder, Custodian and CEO
Open Design Afrika

About Suné

Suné was born and raised in Cape Town where she still lives and works today. She is the co-founder, custodian and CEO of Open Design Afrika (ODA), a social enterprise and not for profit company. She is a designer, impact entrepreneur, design activist and educator who strongly believes in the power of creativity as a change agent and catalyst to drive and scale systemic change, and to develop a future-making culture who can confidently add value to the greater good, drive the UN SDG’s agenda and contribute to the design of regenerative economies, thriving communities and flourishing environments. ODA was designed as a key platform and vehicle to demonstrate, advocate and drive these important agendas.

Suné has published extensively and was one of the key drivers behind convincing the National Department of Basic Education in South Africa (SA) to introduce Design as a subject choice at secondary school level. Back in 2006 SA was the first country in the world to introduce the subject of design at this level. She contributed to the new curriculum in an advisory capacity and later stepped in as the contributing editor for the first design textbooks and teacher manuals for grades 10-12 which are still in use today.

She was the designer, concept and content developer of the Woolworths ‘Making the Difference Through Design’ (MTDTD) programme – a finalist in the 2009 INDEX: Design to Improve Life® Awards.

Suné was also an assistant researcher for the WDC2014 (World Design Capital) bid in Cape Town and contributed to the initial development phase of the Western Cape Design Strategy (a first for Africa). Currently she also serves on Cape Town’s UNESCO City of Design team and is a proud member of the Pan-Asia Network.

Benedicta Chukwuyem Apuamah
Founder, Girls for Development Foundation
Creator of FlyGirl Green Menstruation Project

About Benedicta

Benedicta Chukwuyem Apuamah has a background in Pharmacy and is passionate about actualizing the UN SDGs 3, 4 & 5. Benedicta served as ONE Champion (2017 & 2018) with ONE Campaign in Nigeria. She represented ONE in Nigeria & Africa at the ONEYouthSummit in Brussels where her presentation earned her a standing ovation from ONE CEO & President, Gayle Smith & other Youth Ambassadors across Europe. She is Founder, Girls for Development Goals Foundation where she enlightens girls on Sexual Reproductive Health (SRHR) utilizing the SDG templates. Her projects include ‘A Love Letter to Myself’ & ‘Advocacy Against Teenage Pregnancy’ amongst others. Her ongoing project is tagged the Bloody Cup Campaign in which she’s partnering with OrganiCup Denmark to carry out a survey on the usage and acceptance of Menstrual Cups amongst women and girls in Nigeria.

She is The Futures Project 2020 Finalist with her FlyGirl Green Menstruation Project where she’s working to launch a Period Kit to serve especially underprivileged women and girls including those living with disabilities. She’s a 2019 WYSE ILP Brazil Alumni being the only Nigerian Delegate at a training that gathered 26 participants across 16 countries in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was a Chairperson at the Taniania International Model UN Conference 2019 and she is the Director on the board of Benny&Freddy, a Limited Liability Company that produces Sustainable and eco-friendly period products. She is currently the Program Manager at JDPC Issele-Uku, FASTER Project in Delta State, Nigeria. She is a goal setter and go-getter and strongly believes that in the near future she’d consult for the UN to advance Global Public Health in Africa.

Dr Njeri Mwagiru
Senior Futurist: Africa
Institute For Futures Research (IFR)
Stellenbosch University

About Njeri

Njeri is a Senior Futurist at the Institute for Futures Research (IFR), University of Stellenbosch Business School.

Her work focuses on strengthening capabilities of individuals, organizations and countries in Africa, to navigate complexity and uncertainty, to realise long-term goals and visions. Her research interests include leadership, organisational performance, knowledge, gender and diversity, inclusivity and transformation.

She has worked with a range of organisations in several capacities and contexts including research; higher education teaching and skills building; executive management training; policy, strategy and programme development; short course design, planning and delivery; project management and coordination; evaluation of initiatives for valued business, public sector, and international partners.

Njeri has a Masters in International Relations and holds a PhD in Business Administration. She is also co-founder of a research and business development organisation that facilitates long-term institutional partnership building.

Her vocation is to support knowledge sharing and exchange, to facilitate integrated strategic planning, and enhance evidence-based decision making and high performance to achieve desired futures.

09:30 EDT

LIVE JAM! With WDO & Young Designer’s Circle

Want to learn more about the vital role and impact of equity in design education? Want to harness your design skills to design a better world? Connecting different perspectives through discussion and activities, this participatory workshop will explore how diversity and inclusion can be better integrated into educational systems.

Chris Pandolfi
Co-Founder, Managing Partner
Department of Unusual Certainties (DoUC)

About Chris

Christopher is the co-founder and managing partner of Department of Unusual Certainties (DoUC). A designer and educator with a background in urban design, he is a strong advocate that design and design methods have an important role to play in helping shape the future of society. Chris also teaches in the Interaction Design department at George Brown College in Toronto, advises the Interdisciplinary Design Strategies MA program at IADT in Dublin, and is always looking to learn more about new ways to communicate information.

Ralitsa Debrah
Member of Young Designers Circle

About Ralitsa

Ralitsa Diana Debrah is a designer, educator and researcher at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in South Africa. She is a member of several Design and Technology organisations including: the Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability Network (DESIS), Design Research and Activity Workgroup (DRAWn), DesignGhana and Pan Afrikan Design Institute (PADI). She serves as the Afrikan Ambassador to the Open Design Afrika (ODA) organization and a member of e/Merge Africa (CILT) in South Africa. Ralitsa’s research interests include designing for social innovation and sustainability, educational technology for social transformation, informatics and design within trans-disciplinary settings.

11:00 EDT

INNOVATION IN PUBLIC SERVICES – REALITY OR FICTION?

As a designer who’s been working for the last three years in Estonian Public Sector Innovation Team, Daniel will share how to design public service to be more user-friendly and foster collaboration between different stakeholders as well as how we understand innovation in the public sector.

Ali Grehan
Dublin City Architects

About Ali

Dublin City Architect, Ali Grehan leads a multi-disciplinary team responsible for developing a broad urban design agenda including the delivery of diverse projects in relation to housing, public realm, community and cultural infrastructure. Her career has spanned private practice in Dublin, London and Bilbao, and in the Public Sector; where her particular focus has been on large-scale urban regeneration. Prior to becoming City Architect in 2008, Ali was Chief Architect with Ballymun Regeneration Ltd, then the largest public regeneration project underway in Europe. She also worked with the RPA (now TII) delivering Dublin’s first LUAS Light Rail system. Ali devised and coordinated Dublin’s bid for World Design Capital 2014, now continuing as the design promotion platform, PIVOT Dublin. She is currently undertaking a MSc in Climate Change: Policy, Media and Society at Dublin City University.

Daniel Kotsjuba
Designer of Public Services, Project Manager
Estonian Public Sector Innovation Team

About Daniel

Daniel Kotsjuba is a designer based in Estonia who is practicing in the field of human centred design.

11:30 EDT

PRESERVING DIVERSITY: DESIGN & ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

With this talk organized by FAD and Elisava, Dr Guersenzvaig, researcher specialized in the ethical impact that AI makes to our society, will explore how AI can represent a threat to equality, pluralism and diversity, as well as what designers can do to anticipate and tackle this problem. After the conference the audience will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A.

Raffaella Perrone
Vice-President of ADI-FAD (FAD Association of Industrial Design) and Co-Curator of Design Beyond Technology

About Raffaella

Raffaella Perrone studied at the Politecnico di Milano and at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, obtaining the Degree in Architecture (1995) and the PhD from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (2011). Currently she is Managing Director of Design Area in IED Barcelona Design School and coordinates collaborative projects with institutions and businesses. She had over 20 years of teaching experience in different subjects in Bachelor’s degree and Master courses such as History, Foundation, Projects, Methodology and the Aesthetic. Over the last five years she has participated in many conferences about creativity, design and education, publishing academic articles and essays internationally.

Dr. Ariel Guersenzvaig
Design and Technology Ethicist;
Professor at Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering

About Dr. Ariel

Dr. Ariel Guersenzvaig researches the ethical impact of machine intelligence on society. Before becoming a full-time academic he worked for the industry during more than 20 years in the field of user experience and service design. His academic work was published in ACM Interactions, AI & Society, Journal of Design Research, and IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. He is the author of “The Goods of Design: Professional Ethics for Designers” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021).

12:00 EDT

DESIGN ORGANIZATIONS: TO DO OR NOT TO DO

Young designers who have participated in local or national design communities (as students and professionals), will discuss the importance of diversity in these groups and what this shared experience provides in the decision-making processes and the impact it has had on their careers.

Gizem Severoglu
Founder
Things&Dots

About Gizem

Gizem Severoglu is an industrial designer from Turkey who utilizes her skills in project management, content creation and digital marketing to create sustainable and impactful concepts and strategies for businesses. She founded her own company Things&Dots in 2021. Gizem has worked at Ozlem Tuna Design, Illusionist Istanbul, Hemzemin Social Good Conference, Adnan Serbest Design, Nurus Inc., Bluechip Creative Events, Kilit Tasi Design. She is passionate about volunteering with different NGOs for social good. Gizem has a MSc degree in Entrepreneurship from Trinity College Dublin.

Inho Lee
Manager
Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP)

About Inho

Inho studied visual design at Seoul National University of Science and Technology and is now pursuing a Ph.D. program related to design convergence. He is currently a manager at the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP), a national design organization established by government. At KIDP, Inho has a key role in nurturing young design talent in Korea.

Meghan Preiss
Business Designer
D-Ford

About Meghan

Meghan Preiss is currently a business designer at D-Ford, a strategic design lab within Ford Motor Company’s World Headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. She collaborates and leads teams company-wide to support commercial customers transitioning to the electric future.Meghan has experience working with a design consultancy where she led teams to truly understand human needs for physical and digital services and products, working with companies like LEGO, Boston Scientific, Hamilton Medical, Honda, BMW, Disney, Hewlett Packard, more.Her drive to empower the human voice in design has enabled her to lead the Design Education Initiatives within the Young Designer’s Circle; World Design Organization, and support the next generation as a teacher in Offsite and lead coordinator at SHiFT Design; both progressive design education startups founded in the United States.

Görkem Cetinkaya
EMEA Design Lead
Active Roots

About Görkem

Görkem Cetinkaya is an interdisciplinary designer who works as EMEA Design Lead in DSS Sustainable Solutions and recently founded a clothing brand called Tuwanuwa, after working for Fjord and PwC. His focus on holistic and participative approaches in design started with Gestalt Zone, his own collaboration empowerment platform. Görkem co-organized dozens of design events for IxDA, OpenIDEO, MITx, Maker Faire, PechaKucha, Feyz and UX Folks. He admires the psychology layer of design, believes in sincere contribution on human impact and self-actualization through kid version of Görkem.

13:00 EDT

Cognitive Diversity & Decolonizing Design Education

How might we facilitate an inclusive and safe working environment amongst diverse team members by harnessing the playful affordances of the hybrid working environment?

Youngji Cho
Digital Transformation Designer & Lecturer
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences

About Youngji

Youngji Cho (OZZO) is a media artist, transformation designer, creative technologist, and playful researcher rooted in planet Earth. She always senses time and space by seeing, listening, smelling, tasting, touching, and feeling life. She loves to create and share experiences, tinker around with any objects or non-objects surrounding her, and care about her life and the lives of others. She is fascinated by the beauties and dark sides of technology in and outside of anthropocentric world views. She is currently working as a lecturer, coach, and digital transformation designer in Digital Society School, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.

13:30 EDT

Where do we go from here? Design Principles of Diversity

In this session, Jacinda will touch on the history of the lack of diversity of design, with the goal of understanding how we got to where we are now and where we go next. She will share her own journey, as well as some key frameworks designers can harness to foster a more diverse industry.

Jacinda Walker
Founder & Creative Director
designExplorr

About Jacinda

Jacinda Walker, MFA is renowned for her work in design, diversity, research, and strategy. She is the founder and creative director of designExplorr, a social enterprise whose mission aims to diversify the design profession by increasing access to design education for youth and raise awareness within corporate organizations. Ms. Walker’s future goals are to help scale diversity in design initiatives within education institutions, corporations, organizations, and museums.

14:00 EDT

BELIEVING TOGETHER AND WORKING TOGETHER

Collaboration has been become an increasingly foundational skill for designers working across the breadth of the profession. We find ourselves balancing different perspectives and opinions. This workshop will invite audience participation to explore some simple ways in which teams can work through these issues and begin to transform their beliefs into actionable values.

Chris Pandolfi
Co-Founder, Managing Partner
Department of Unusual Certainties (DoUC)

About Chris

Christopher is the co-founder and managing partner of Department of Unusual Certainties (DoUC). A designer and educator with a background in urban design, he is a strong advocate that design and design methods have an important role to play in helping shape the future of society. Chris also teaches in the Interaction Design department at George Brown College in Toronto, advises the Interdisciplinary Design Strategies MA program at IADT in Dublin, and is always looking to learn more about new ways to communicate information.

Gizem Severoglu
Founder
Things&Dots

 

About Gizem

Gizem Severoglu is an industrial designer from Turkey who utilizes her skills in project management, content creation and digital marketing to create sustainable and impactful concepts and strategies for businesses. She founded her own company Things&Dots in 2021. Gizem has worked at Ozlem Tuna Design, Illusionist Istanbul, Hemzemin Social Good Conference, Adnan Serbest Design, Nurus Inc., Bluechip Creative Events, Kilit Tasi Design. She is passionate about volunteering with different NGOs for social good. Gizem has a MSc degree in Entrepreneurship from Trinity College Dublin.

14:30 EDT

Diversity as an asset to Design & Innovation

Please join Theresa Chiueh, Director of Global Design Innovation at PepsiCo, to hear how diversity of thought has been central to her 20-year career in design and discuss ways the creative industry as a whole can increase diversity.

David Kusuma
President-Elect
WDO

About David

WDO President-Elect David Kusuma is the Senior Vice President of Product Management & Innovation at Oregon Tool. Prior to this, David served as the Vice President of Research & Innovation and Vice President of Product Development Worldwide at Tupperware Brands Corporation. During his tenure, he was tasked with subverting conventional boundaries of innovation by developing new technologies and materials to create game-changing product solutions. As a result, they developed 150 to 200 new products every year, and launched them in over 100 countries around the world. David has also worked at General Electric (GE) as Global Manager, Design and Vehicle Engineering, to develop the use of polycarbonate as a viable alternative to glass in automotive window systems. Prior to GE, David worked at Bayer Material Science. David holds a PhD from Cranfield University (United Kingdom), an MBA from Tilburg University (The Netherlands), a MS in Engineering Management from Purdue University, a BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, and a BS in Industrial Design from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Theresa Chiueh
Director, Global Design Innovation
PepsiCo

About Theresa

Theresa Chiueh is PepsiCo’s Director of Global Design Innovation in New York City. With her innovation partners, she is driven to create breakthrough food & beverage solutions that drive better health for people and sustainability for society & the planet. She holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Business from MIT. Her 20-year design career includes working for companies like Ford, Design Continuum, Braun, Sprint, Zipcar and Sterling Brands.

15:00 EDT

NEURODIVERSITY AS A DESIGN SUPERPOWER

Let’s discuss how neurodiverse designers use their traits to be creative problem solvers while also being empathetic and sensible to the world around them.

Surya Vanka
Founder
Authentic Design

About Surya

Surya Vanka is a transdisciplinary designer who has worked at the leading edge of physical and digital experiences for over 25 years. He is founder of Authentic Design, president emeritus of the Seattle Design Festival and was chair of Interaction Week. Surya was director of user experience at Microsoft, a tenured professor of design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a fellow at the prestigious Center for Advanced Study. Surya is creator of Design Swarms method, a lightweight design technique used in business, non-profit and education worldwide, and has been used at companies like Amazon, Amgen, Autodesk, Callison, Deutsche Bank, Lilly, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and REI.

Alex Lobos
Graduate Director – Industrial Design

Rochester Institute of Technology

About Alex

Alex explores design, technology, sustainability and emotional attachment as means to elevate quality of life. He is Professor and Graduate Director of Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology, and Research Fellow Emeritus at Autodesk. At RIT, Alex leads a top-ranking program focused in interdisciplinary collaboration, accessible technology and applied design research. Alex and his students have partnered with Autodesk, AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, General Electric, Makerbot, Stryker, Staples and Unilever, in projects covering digital fabrication, sustainable behaviors, learning futures, generative design, and everyday living. Alex holds a MFA from University of Notre Dame and a BID from Universidad Rafael Landivar.

15:30 EDT

DIVERSITY IN DESIGN EDUCATION: APPLYING HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN TO CURRICULUM

Sheng-Hung Lee will share the design process and stories of creating the Inspiration Design Toolkit (IDT): A Human-Centered Design Tool for a System Engineering Course at MIT xPRO. The IDT is an educational resource consisting of a deck of illustrated cards that contain provocative questions, reflection messages and icons, applicative examples, and key takeaways on microlearning units. Sheng-Hung will share the whole design process and outcome, as well as his personal learnings and reflections from this case study.

Sheng-Hung Lee
MIT AgeLab Researcher, MIT xPRO Course Experience Designer, MIT Office of Sustainability Fellow

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

About Sheng-Hung

Sheng-Hung Lee is an MIT AgeLab researcher, MIT xPRO course experience designer, MIT Office of Sustainability fellow, and Vice Chair of Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Boston Chapter. He is trained as an industrial designer and electrical engineer, and his approach to problem solving is influenced by his passion for how design and technology impact and can be integrated into society. Lee has been focusing on organizational designs that create systemic impacts. Lee graduated with a double Bachelor’s degree (Hon.) in Industrial Design and Electrical Engineering from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan. His work has won prestigious awards including IDEA Gold, Braun Prize, Core77 Design Award, Red Dot (Best of the Best), Spark Design Award, European Product Design Award (Gold), and iF Award. His works have also been showcased in Dubai Design Week, Venice Design Week, and the Cooper Hewitt museum.

16:00 EDT

AGEISM, DESIGN AND DESIGNERS – LESSONS LEARNED

In this session, Glen Hougan will talk about his research and work involving designing for an ageing population and how ageism influences design approaches and product outcomes for this older age group.

Surya Vanka
Founder
Authentic Design

About Surya

Surya Vanka is a transdisciplinary designer who has worked at the leading edge of physical and digital experiences for over 25 years. He is founder of Authentic Design, president emeritus of the Seattle Design Festival and was chair of Interaction Week. Surya was director of user experience at Microsoft, a tenured professor of design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a fellow at the prestigious Center for Advanced Study. Surya is creator of Design Swarms method, a lightweight design technique used in business, non-profit and education worldwide, and has been used at companies like Amazon, Amgen, Autodesk, Callison, Deutsche Bank, Lilly, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and REI.

Glen Hougan
Associate Professor

NSCAD University

About Glen

Glen Hougan is Associate Professor in Design at NSCAD University in Halifax, Canada, and principal of Wellspan Research and Design – a design consultancy focusing on healthcare and design for an ageing population. He has spent more than 10 years working on products and designs focused on supporting older adults to age with dignity. His work in this area has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and on PBS.

16:30 EDT

RESCUING ARTISANAL PROCESSES IN MEXICO

Crafts are living history, they express cultural richness and are closely related to a country’s national identity and indigenous heritage. This session will explore the role of industrial design in supporting artisans and artisanal processes against plagiarism and unjust practices in Mexico.

Jaro Gayosso
Director

Querétaro Design Week

About Jaro

Jaro Gayosso is an industrial designer, entrepreneur and design promoter and creative entrepreneurship advisor. He is the founder of the first online store for designers in Mexico and took the largest exhibition of Mexican design to Europe, subsequently being named the ambassador of Mexican design in Spain. Jaro is the Director of the Querétaro Design Week festival, and successfully lead the designation of Querétaro as one of UNESCO’s Creative Cities. He is also the President of Grupo DiX.

Beatriz Eugenia Salto González
Educator
Autonomous University of Querétaro

About Beatriz

Graduated from the Industrial Design Research Center of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She has a Master’s degree in Interior Design from the Motolinía del Pedregal University. In 2016, she carried out a technical stay at the Kyoto Institute of Technology within the “Modern JapaneseDesign and Traditional Craftsmanship” program. She currently serves as a teacher at the Autonomous University of Querétaro. She thinks of design as a means of diffusion and preservation of traditional techniques, and a way to collaborate as an independent designer with Mexican artisans developing utilitarian pieces that represent the Mexican identity.

Jorge Javier Cruz
Design and Image Coordinator
Autonomous University of Querétaro

About Jorge

Jorge is a designer, with a degree in Industrial Design and Master’s in Product Design and Innovation from the Autonomous University of Querétaro. In 2013, he carried out a technical stay at the Kyoto Institute of Technology within the “Modern Japanese Design and Traditional Craftsmanship” program, participating in the Tokyo Designer’s Week in the same year.

Currently, he works as the Design and Image Coordinator from the Faculty of Engineering of the Autonomous University of Querétaro. In 2019, he won the National Design Award in the category “Furniture Design” together with Fernando Rodarte and Orlando López, and in 2020 the same award in the category “Best Design Thesis” for his work with quarry recovery in the municipality of Pedro Escobedo, Querétaro.

Orlando López
Project Coordinator
Autonomous University of Querétaro

About Orlando

Orlando has twenty years of experience in the carving of quarry for the realization of handicrafts in the community of Escolásticas. He also worked for renowned companies in Mexico and the United States. In 2019, he won the National Design Award in the category “Furniture Design” together with Fernando Rodarte and Jorge Javier Cruz. Now he collaborates with students and teachers from the Autonomous University of Querétaro to carry out innovative projects with the quarry and ensure that the work done by hand with this material finds new markets.

17:00 EDT

Guatemalan Identity and Territory through Design

A synthesis of the projects led by Estudio 89 and the artisan trades of Guatemala that represent the cultural diversity and key actors for the growth of local, emerging creative and design industries.

Roberto Juárez
Co-founder
LERO Studio

About Roberto

Roberto Juárez is an industrial designer based in El Salvador. Co-Founder and Creative Director of LERO Studio that co-designs solutions for human development and companies competitiveness. Also Co-Founder of IDWEEK that promotes a design community in El Salvador by creating spaces to share, learn and connect. Member of the Global Shapers San Salvador Hub, part of the global young leaders community of Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. As a Shaper he has been leading and supporting projects with other youth organizations on topics like dialogue, democracy, gender equality, entrepreneurship and peace culture. Selected in 2017 as one of the most promising entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean by the U.S. Department of State as being selected for the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.

Lula Capriel
Creative Director
Estudio 89

About Lula

Lula Capriel is a Guatemalan Industrial Designer and Marketing Consultant with a specialization in Local Development Project Management. Creative director of Estudio 89, focused on generating value propositions and potential at a human, economic and social level through strategic design. She has been a participant in multidisciplinary teams as a design consultant, innovation and entrepreneurship with the government and municipal sectors. Part of the teaching team of the Isthmus Panama University, representative of the advisory committee of the Ibero-American Design Biennial, Spain and leader of R·forma Business, Design & Nature project of Global Shapers Guatemala City Hub, a youth platform sponsored by the World Economic Forum.

17:30 EDT

Empowering Youth through Design in El Salvador

LERO Studio co-founders Roberto and Leonel will discuss diversity from a location perspective, sharing their experiences working with vulnerable youth in El Salvador.

Roberto Juárez & Leonel Monterrosa
Co-founders
LERO Studio

About Roberto & Leonel

LERO Studio is a design studio based in El Salvador. The studio co-designs solutions for human development and companies competitiveness. They design products inspired and creafted locally in El Salvador and also interior projects focusing on custom made pieces that enhance the performance of flexible spaces. In the last couple of years, they’ve been doing more human centered projects committed to empowered people with tools to design their own future.Founded in 2013 with seed capital earned at an entrepreneurship competition. Since then, they been evolving as they discover what an industrial designer could do in a country like El Salvador. They have exhibited in international shows like ICFF and WantedDesign in NY during NYCxDesign and Now!LeOff during Paris Design Week. What they’ve learned, they’ve been sharing it through their Flashlight Collective program, aiming to have an impact in younger generations of designers and entrepreneurs. Through talks at schools and university, supporting design and entrepreneurship competitions, teaching at the Universidad Don Bosco and co founding IDWEEK they have been fostering a creative community by creating spaces to share, learn and connect

18:00 EDT

DECOLONIZING DESIGN: SIX STEPS FOR CHANGE

Dori Tunstall will demonstrate how OCAD University has taken six important steps in decolonizing design. She will address putting Indigenous demands first, owning institutional racism, building relationships with diverse communities, changing hiring practices to call to diverse candidates, addressing systemic exclusion and evaluation criteria, and hiring for critical mass. She concludes with an extensive Q&A on how your institution and/or firm might take these six steps as well.

Surya Vanka
Founder
Authentic Design

About Surya

Surya Vanka is a transdisciplinary designer who has worked at the leading edge of physical and digital experiences for over 25 years. He is founder of Authentic Design, president emeritus of the Seattle Design Festival and was chair of Interaction Week. Surya was director of user experience at Microsoft, a tenured professor of design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a fellow at the prestigious Center for Advanced Study. Surya is creator of Design Swarms method, a lightweight design technique used in business, non-profit and education worldwide, and has been used at companies like Amazon, Amgen, Autodesk, Callison, Deutsche Bank, Lilly, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and REI.

Photo credit: Ishmil Waterman

Dori Tunstall
Dean of Design
Ontario College of Art and Design University

About Dori

Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall is a design anthropologist, public intellectual, and design advocate who works at the intersections of critical theory, culture, and design. As Dean of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University, she is the first black and black female dean of a faculty of design. She leads the Cultures-Based Innovation Initiative focused on using old ways of knowing to drive innovation processes that directly benefit communities.

With a global career, Dori served as Associate Professor of Design Anthropology and Associate Dean at Swinburne University in Australia. She wrote the biweekly column Un-Design for The Conversation Australia. In the U.S., she taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She organized the U.S. National Design Policy Initiative and served as a director of Design for Democracy. Industry positions included UX strategists for Sapient Corporation and Arc Worldwide. Dori holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University and a BA in Anthropology from Bryn Mawr College.

18:30 EDT

Design and Build your own Table

Lesley-Ann will share her journey as an Industrial Designer, and disuss some key tools and mechanisms designers can leverage to foster inclusive design spaces, both for themselves and others.

Surya Vanka
Founder
Authentic Design

About Surya

Surya Vanka is a transdisciplinary designer who has worked at the leading edge of physical and digital experiences for over 25 years. He is founder of Authentic Design, president emeritus of the Seattle Design Festival and was chair of Interaction Week. Surya was director of user experience at Microsoft, a tenured professor of design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a fellow at the prestigious Center for Advanced Study. Surya is creator of Design Swarms method, a lightweight design technique used in business, non-profit and education worldwide, and has been used at companies like Amazon, Amgen, Autodesk, Callison, Deutsche Bank, Lilly, T-Mobile, Microsoft, and REI.

Lesley-Ann Noel
Assistant Professor
North Carolina State University

About Lesley-Ann

Lesley-Ann Noel is an Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. She has a BA in Industrial Design from the Universidade Federal do Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil. She has a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. She earned her Ph.D. in Design from North Carolina State University in 2018.

Lesley-Ann practices design through emancipatory, critical and anti-hegemonic lenses, focusing on equity, social justice and the experiences of people who are often excluded from design research. Her research also highlights the work of designers outside of Europe and North America as an act of decolonizing design. She also attempts to promote greater critical awareness among designers and design students by introducing critical theory concepts and vocabulary into the design studio e.g. through The Designer’s Critical Alphabet.

19:00 EDT

INDIGENIZING INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

This session will be a discussion around how Indigenous knowledge, placemaking and placekeeping play an important role in the future of fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive Industrial Design ecosystem.

Brian Skeet
Co-Creator and Designer
Owner
IndigeDesign Collab
Brian Skeet Design LLC

About Brian

Brian Skeet is an Indigenous (Diné – Navajo) designer born in Tuba City, Arizona and raised on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Skeet is a multidisciplinary designer that strives to cultivate Indigenous initiatives through Design, Research, Technology and Innovation. Strategically, Skeet’s work focuses on energizing future Indigenous creatives to illuminate systemic issues and cultivate culturally-centered solutions with Indigenous communities. Skeet is also the Co-Creator and Designer for IndigeDesign Collab, Owner of Brian Skeet Design LLC, on the leadership team for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council of IDSA, and IDSA-PHX Professional Chapter D.E.I. Liaison.

19:30 EDT

DESIGN ALLYSHIP: CREATING A MORE DIVERSE FUTURE

Design Allyship co-founder Caterina Rizzoni will share helpful frameworks and resources to help you to apply critical allyship skills to promote diversity in your design practice and beyond.

Caterina Rizzoni
Co-Founder
Design Allyship

About Caterina

Caterina is a practicing industrial designer living in Cincinnati, Ohio. She designs medical devices and consumer goods at Kaleidoscope Innovation, a large product design consultancy in the medtech space. She’s the current chair of the Cincinnati Chapter of the Industrial Designers Society of America, and moderates the Advanced Design Discord in her free time. Caterina holds a BS in Industrial Design with a minor in Art History from the Ohio State University.