Dr. Philip Azariadis is a Professor with the Department of Product & Systems Design Engineering (DPSDE), School of Engineering, University of the Aegean. Dr. Azariadis, is involved in various tasks in the DESINNO project, like the preparation of training material, the support of the establishment of the Design & Innovation Centres, the capacity building sessions, etc, and he is also responsible for the management and supervision of the project with collaboration of WUD. Read more.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, formerly the Dean of NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) and Founding Dean of the School of Design at GD Goenka University, is an alumnus of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad. He was involved in the key initiative of bringing fashion schools worldwide under the umbrella of the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI). He is a prolific author, editor and consultant to national and international organisations. He has also been a member of committees & bodies at national / international level like ASSOCHAM, CII, IFFTI, BIS, NISTI besides being on the editorial boards of scientific journals. Read More.
Professor Fiona Denney is a professor of higher education, and from 2014 to end of August 2019, the Director of the Brunel Educational Excellence Centre, Brunel University London which supported learning and teaching enhancement for both staff and students. Fiona has a PhD in marketing and has held academic posts in marketing and management studies. Fiona is providing advice and guidance for the DESINNO team at Brunel, particularly around the areas of pedagogical approaches and training design. Read More.
Pushpendra Singh is a Professor and Head of Human-Centered Design Dept. at IIIT-Delhi, India. He completed his PhD in 2004 from Inria-Rennes, France in the area of Mobile Computing. He worked as a postdoc researcher at Portsmouth University, Newcastle University, and Inria-Rocquencourt before joining IIIT-D. His primary research interest areas are HCI, mobile systems and applications, and ICT for Development. Read More.
Dr. Busayawan Lam is a Senior Lecturer and the Director of Teaching and Learning at the Design Department, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, Brunel University London. She has many years of experience studying user requirements, ascertaining design trends, and recommending strategic design directions for a variety of organizations, ranging from an equipment producer for domestic general hospitals to a global electronics company. Her current research interests include co-design, community-led design, and makerspaces. Read More.
Natalie currently holds a Digital Education Advisory role in the Digital Education Team (DET) at Brunel. Her primary role is to provide support, advice and training to academic staff in using digital learning and teaching tools effectively in their teaching. Natalie has been actively involved in developing successful research funding project proposals in DET. Her role in the Desinno Project is to provide advice and support in the design and implementation of online learning thus ensuring further outreach of the Desinno project’s aims and objectives.
Dr Sara Reimers is a Research Fellow at Brunel, working with Dr Lam on the research and administrative aspects of the DESINNO project. She studied for her AHRC-funded PhD in the Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance at Royal Holloway, University of London and was awarded her doctorate in 2017. Since then she has worked as a Senior Teaching Fellow and an AHRC Creative Economy Engagement Fellow at Royal Holloway, and as a Research Assistant for LEaD (Learning, Education and Development) at City, University of London.
Rajat Verma has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Aayojan School of Architecture, Jaipur and Masters of Architecture degree from GJUST, Hisar. He is also registered with COA, AIIA and IGBC. He has a field experience of 7.5 years, working with leading media group Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd (The Times Group), Chisel Fitness (A Virat Kohli’s Venture) and various other projects, teaching experience of 2.7 years with Jagannath University,NCR. He is doing projects of varied nature latest being Hakim Aalim’s salon n beauty lounge in Delhi.
Aditi Parikh possesses vast experience in the field of Architecture and design in association with various reputed firms in Ahmedabad and New Delhi. Her formal education includes Bachelors in Architecture from SVIT, Vasad, Gujarat University and Masters in Industrial Design from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.
Rohit Kothari is Bachelor of Design focused in Product Design from Raffles College of Design and Commerce. He is a experienced product designer with a demonstrated history of working in the design industry. He is skilled in photography, graphics, design management, InDesign and concept development.
Prabhat Tiwari is a graduate of Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati with masters in Industrial Design and bachelors in Automobile Engineering from Institute of Technology and Management, Gurgaon. He has worked with tech startups like Cubical Laboratories and Telesoft Solutions on IoT and home automation products through his own Industrial Design studio. He works on research, design and engineering of new products, vehicles and technologies.
Nagesh Lakhan is a ‘Masters in Design (Communication Design) from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and B.Sc. Mass Communication. from Punjab Technical University. He has worked with advertising agencies and did branding Projects in Delhi and Chandigarh. Also worked as consultant Product Graphics Designer for TI Cycles of India and recently was working with Decathlon India as a Communication Designer. Interested in user experience design, information design, branding, packaging, research and photojournalism.
Dimosthenis Papakonstantinou holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (University of Athens, Greece) and an MA in Design Management from De Montfort University of Leicester. He has worked in ELKEDE, Technology & Design Centre as its Managing Director (1985-2004) and as Board Advisor (2004-2009). As an active member of local administration since 2003, and as Vice-Mayor of the Municipality of Pendeli since 2014, he has experience in organizing and executing projects for the benefit of the local communities. Today he deals with ERASMUS PLUS and Interreg-MED projects as project manager. Read More
Sofia Plakantonaki (Faye) has studied Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and has completed a series of accredited courses at the Piraeus University of Applied Sciences – Department of Textile Engineering. She received her master’s degree from the Faculty of Medicine of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens in the field of Environment and Health. Currently, as part of CRE.THI.DEV, she works as a Project Manager or Quality Manager for Erasmus+ projects, including DESSINO. She speaks fluent English, French and Greek and has extensive knowledge of design and engineering software packages.
Francesco Zurlo is PhD in Industrial Design and Full Professor of Industrial Design at Politecnico di Milano. He’s Deputy Dean of the Design School and Head of the Course in Product Design (BA+MAs). He is Director of the International Master in Design Strategy and System Innovation (held in China for Chinese students) and Co-director of the International Master in Strategic Design of Politecnico di Milano. Founder and Director of CI.lab (a Politecnico’s research lab focused in Creative Industries), he is in the board of ADI Index, the most important organization for assessing the best design in Italy. Read More
Arianna Vignati is a researcher and contract professor for School of Design at Politecnico di Milano. She is expert in the field of creative companies and in particular in the field of services for the development and the support of the start-up phases of creative companies (she works with the Incubator of Milan Polytechnic and with Lombardy Region). Now she is Project Manager for CREA Summer Academy European Project founded by the Horizon 2020 program and started the 1st January 2015. She has taught at many international master degree courses in Italy and at international courses. Read More
Ph.D candidate and design researcher, Gianluca Carella has a background in product service system design and management engineering. He focused his research on how design, and in particular service design, can supports companies in creating innovation. He is collaborating with the Design Department of Politenico di Milano where he is working as designer and researcher. He is also working as a tutor in several courses of the School of Design – POLIMI. Read More
Michele Melazzini is a designer and PhD candidate. The PhD research activity focus on the role of design in the organization, the design interventions in affecting the organizational culture. He collaborates at international research projects (Horizon 2020, Interreg, Erasmus+) that deal with topic as Creative Industries, design thinking process applied to SMEs and Entrepreneurship. His main teaching activities are focused on strategic design, design management and product development. Read More
Mr. Rakesh Mohan, is Master of Technology in Engineering and presently cares for all the administrative & operations related responsibilities at RIMT University. His industry experience in engineering product design and number of projects undertaken thereafter shall add to the understanding of the design application and its evolution in Industry. He has initiated and implemented a number of diverse educational projects at the RIMT University of various Government of India bodies like AICTE, UGC and others. He was instrumental in establishing an assortment of departments imparting education in the domain of engineering (mechanical engineering, computer science engineering , electrical engineering, civil engineering), computer application, law, agriculture, nursing, hotel management, architecture and others.
Dr. Rajiv Kumar Maheshwary is a Management Graduate with a Doctorate in “Corporate Governance” and presently Dean School of Management & Commerce, RIMT University. Representing RIMT University as Manager in the Dessino project the primary task is to create a “Centre of Design”. The objective is to create a sustainable curriculum, with enrichment over time to impart knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes entwined to both design and everyday life of the taught to develop their holistic personality and generate productive, responsible and citizens.
Ajay Singh Rana received the B.Eng. from Nagpur University in 1998. After graduating from his bachelor degree, he joined Hero Cycles Ltd Company in Ludhiana as Production Engineer. He completed his Master of Technology from Thapar University, Patiala in 2003.He has put up 3 years of industrial experience and 16 years of teaching, research and administrative experience. He is currently working as Head of the Department cum Associate Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering at RIMT University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab (India). He has published 12 Research Papers in National and International Journals in the areas of Materials Processing and Advanced Manufacturing Processes. He is also handling the Incubation Centre of RIMT University and Coordinator of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna scheme. His Research field is precision manufacturing based on Magnetorheological finishing processes.
Ravinder Pal Singh, has a Master of Technology in Electronics with specialization in Embedded System designing. In 13 years career , he has over 6 years work-experience in Product/Hardware/Firmware Development, R&D and Project Management, also having 7 years work experience in Technical Education including Industrial Project Development and Incubation of industry defined projects / products.
