Teaching
Teaching is at the heart of my practice, since I started doing it around the year 2010. Whether in the studio, the lab, or a virtual critique, I strive to build learning environments that are rigorous, experimental, and rooted in real-world application. My goal is to equip students with the skills and confidence to navigate ambiguity, challenge conventions, and bring thoughtful design into complex contexts.
Over the years, I’ve taught across undergraduate and graduate programs, developed new courses, led sponsored studios, and collaborated with industry partners to bring emerging tools and methods into the classroom. My teaching emphasizes process as much as outcome, prioritizing research, iteration, and critical reflection alongside technical proficiency.
This section highlights selected courses I’ve taught, awards my students have earned, and curricular initiatives I’ve led. Together, they reflect an ongoing commitment to shaping design education that is future-facing, inclusive, and deeply human.
Teaching Philosophy
I approach design education as both a platform for exploration and a framework for responsibility. My aim is to help students develop not only technical fluency, but also the critical and cultural awareness needed to become adaptable, ethical practitioners. I draw from a broad range of experiences, across startups, international institutions, and collaborative research. This way I build courses that center inclusivity, interdisciplinary thinking, and open dialogue.
In my classrooms, collaboration is emphasized over competition, and curiosity is treated as a vital skill. I view each learning space as a dynamic studio, where diverse voices shape the direction of the work and where critique is approached as a shared tool for growth. As new technologies reshape the field, I challenge students to engage emerging tools with intention and creativity, preparing them to lead in evolving design landscapes with empathy and purpose.
Courses Taught
2022-2025
IDDE-206: ID Form
This course emphasized the cognitive and technical skills necessary to manipulate material for the accurate three-dimensional communication of design intent. Projects focused on understanding the relationship of materials, manufacturing processes, products, and the user. Hands-on teaching of hand tools, machinery, and other prototyping processes.
3 Credits
IDDE-212: Integrated Computer-Aided Design
Students developed the skills needed to effectively generate and communicate design concepts graphically, digitally, and three-dimensionally, consistent with professional industrial design practice standards. Emphasis was placed on the development, integration, and application of computer-aided design skills, 3D rendering, and visualization using Artificial Intelligence tools.
3 Credits
IDDE-665: Experimental Studio
This advanced studio elective, open to undergraduate (Junior and Senior years) and graduate students, explored the realm of industrial design with a particular focus on manufacturing readiness. In collaboration with industry leaders Autodesk and Xometry, students transitioned design projects into manufacturing-ready solutions, preparing them for real-world production environments. Output projects from this class to be showcased by Autodesk at their globally recognized factory experience event.
3 Credits
IDDE-201: Sophomore ID Studio I
This course focused on experimentation and discovery through the exploration of creative problem-solving techniques. Students explored the dynamics between objects and the user’s senses, emotions, and expressed needs. Using drawing, sketch modeling, and basic shop skills, students developed an understanding of the wide range of materials used in industrial design. Concepts of recycling and reuse were introduced alongside philosophical design approaches and historical examples. Emphasis was placed on improving craftsmanship and promoting clarity and professionalism in practice.
3 Credits
IDDE-671: Graduate ID Studio I
Students worked in design teams to leverage each other's strengths in tackling complex technical design challenges. Teams moved through the design process to develop concepts that focused on user needs, user experience, and manufacturability. Course projects were specifically designed to simulate challenges faced by industry design teams.
3 Credits
Other Curriculum Development
Mastery Certificate Program Developer
Creator of RIT Certified’s upcoming Mastery Certificate on AI-Driven Design, responsible for outlining the certificate program, course structure, and content.
November - June 2024
Technological University of Panama (UTP)
Course Instructor - “Design and Creativity for Industrial Engineers”
Designed and taught the 4-week (remote) course to Industrial Engineering undergraduate students as part of their innovation module series. For each of these two instances, an additional week-long workshop (in-person) was taught at the UTP rural campus in Chiriquí, Panama, to two different student cohorts.
January & August 2024
Student Honors
Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)
Daniel Carhuff
Former student, recipient of the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) Student Merit Award for undergraduate students.
2023
Rochester Institute of Technology
Jayden Zhou
Former Student, recipient of the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) Student Merit Award for graduate students.
2023
Sponsored Studios
Autodesk Factory Experience
Rochester Institute of Technology
Sponsored studio (Experimental Studio, IDDE-665), Autodesk and Xometry sponsored this advanced studio elective where graduate and undergraduate students created a series of electronic devices to be fabricated and produced for the Factory Experience event at the Autodesk University conference in 2025.
2023-2024
Procter & Gamble
Maryland Institute College of Art
Sponsored Studio (PRD301, Design Lab I), collaboration with P&G Design and manufacturing experts, where Junior Product Design students at MICA created novel products, packaging and experiences consistent with the P&G brand portfolio.
2021