I became an industrial designer based on my utopian vision of being an agent of change, developing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing societal problems, helping people live better, more enjoyable lives. It was this belief in being able to effect positive change that led me to chose my current career path.
However, the conventional industrial design that I practiced undoubtedly contributes to unsustainability by endorsing corporate ideals at the cost of the environment and society at large. My professional activities being increasingly at odds with my personal beliefs and values led me to study Sustainable Community Development (SCD) at Simon Fraser University.
This new education allows me to incorporate the holistic approach of the Industrial design process to lead positive change and tackle community challenges in an integrated interdisciplinary setting. Coupled with my background in industrial design, the working philosophy behind SCD gives me the ability to envision and give form to products or product-service systems targeted at addressing societal problems on a broad scale and contributing to social well-being. I work at applying useful design skills to socially beneficial projects as a professional contribution that plays a part in local economic development.This is only made possible by having the following skills at one’s disposal:
• conducting research and analysis
• processing data into requirements specifications
• developing innovative solutions
• concisely presenting research; being an expert in visual and verbal communication
• using manual and artistic skills to generate ideas through sketches and physical mock-ups
• stakeholder engagement
The variety of projects I have been involved in have exposed me, to varying degrees, to the fields of engineering, urban planning, economics, marketing, management, sociology, ergonomics, human factors, psychology and arts to name but a few. I also learned considerably through personal projects such as my proposal to Conseil Scolaire Francophone in which I incorporated sustainability into the grade 5 curriculum using every discipline as an instrument to explore sustainability, also following the rigorous design process. My unconventional professional and educational background, combined with my personal experiences, as well as the voluntary work I do for the Canadian Center for International Surgery and for Vancouver Adaptive Snow Sports give me a very holistic and unique look on things. These skills and knowledge demonstrate versatility, adaptability, autonomy and demonstrate my capability to progress independently while contributing significantly to a
project.
