Innovation in Research, Design & Education

Keynote Address: Innovation in Research, Design & Education

Tom Miller, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Outreach & Entrepreneurship, NC State

Symposium Panel: Transformative Practices – Design Research in Action

Aly Khalifa:

Aly Khalifa, [DB] designbox | Oceanworks

Aly Khalifa is a design innovator focused on social impact and sustainability. His training as both a designer and mechanical engineer, coupled with deep international manufacturing experience, has enabled him and his team at Designbox to launch products for some of the most recognized consumer brands. His work has been celebrated internationally and garnered more than 2 dozen patents.  Aly’s latest efforts in sustainable design are focused on harvesting ocean plastic waste from our oceans to turn them into useful products and re-enter a circular economy.

Karen Lewis:

Karen Lewis, Ohio State University

An internationally recognized, award-winning educator, author and designer, Karen Lewis is an architect who applies architectural tools of visualization to a variety of systemic, material, and cultural projects. A highly organized practitioner, Karen Lewis is the author of the best-selling Graphic Design for Architects, which has been adopted by academics and practitioners alike. Her research projects intersect geography, landscape and infrastructure, and have been recognized with fellowships from Dumbarton Oaks Harvard University, The Newberry Library in Chicago the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Recognized as a cross-disciplinary thinker, Karen Lewis is a frequent lecturer, speaker and invited panelist at academic institutions across North America.   

Lesley-Ann Noel:

Lesley-Ann Noel, College of Design | D-School, Stanford

Lesley-Ann Noel is the Associate Director of Design Thinking for Social Impact at the Phyllis M Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking of Tulane University. She is also the co-chair of the Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group of the Design Research Society. She practices design through emancipatory and critical lenses, focusing on equity, social justice and the experiences of people who are often excluded from design research. She promotes 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. Dr. Noel is an alumna of the College of Design at North Carolina State University.