Industrial Design in the 21st century transcends the notion of objects. The things we design and put into the world now must be considered and created within larger contexts and systems of meaning. Today, we rarely act as the siloed practitioners of the past, but rather as design specialists who participate in interdisciplinary teams organized to address complex issues and solve the problems that emerge from the collective investigation. Every aspect of design is part of this larger ecosystem influencing and impacting the environment, economics, technology, manufacturing, and society. This holds for design education as much as it does for design practice and our teaching goals must reflect this new reality further defining a better future for all. 

Specifically, the aims of design education must be broadened from traditional understandings of consumer-driven goods and/or theoretical singular objects that have no real context or substantive impact on society. Designers of today and tomorrow need to understand the gravitas of their efforts and impact. They will shape the future not only through well-designed objects and systems but also by their ability to provide solutions to large-scale problems. Thus, it is our responsibility as design educators to teach our students to be leaders driving social, technological, and environmental innovation. 

My goal as an educator is to foster and empower dynamic thinkers who—while able to create singular, highly resolved formal objects—arrive at exhaustively considered solutions through a process of research and critical thinking. Students develop a fundamental understanding of the power of intentional form-giving through their ability to control the semantic, formal, and aesthetic dimensions of design. My approach to studio-based teaching engages students in a variety of analog and digital methods for the production of iterative study models and prototypes. To enrich this work, students are introduced to relevant contemporary and historical figures and to theoretical approaches.

At all levels of teaching, I bring my extensive multidisciplinary experience as well as design entrepreneurship into the classroom by way of coursework, curriculum, and critique. I often call upon professional experiences and willingly impart real-world applications of research, design, fabrication, and distribution. I share examples of storytelling and the use of associative imagery and design precedents to convey ideas. I challenge students to see beyond the object—to understand how their design will be seen and understood by different audiences in different contexts. I encourage students to be 360-degree thinkers and to understand the importance of their role in society as a designer.