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Syllabus

Research has shown that most of the jobs opportunities and future challenges that will arise in the next years still don’t exist. Instead of seeing it as a thread, we want you to look at it as an opportunity. An opportunity to actively create your own path, your own vision and identity rather than passively wait for what it is needed.

In MDEF we believe that learning should be driven by your motivations and not by our (the teachers) thoughts. We want you to be in control of your own development specially in a master program full of activities.

In this course, critical reflection will help you to map your strengths and weaknesses. Group discussions will make you aware about how your thinking, interests and values differ from others. By means of a series of visits to key professionals, that have undergone a shift in their careers, we want you to plan a strategic turn for yourself. We will provide you with a variety of knowledge, skills and attitudes to compare yourself with.

At the end of this course we expect you to understand who you are and what makes you unique (identity), have created a personal “vision” of your future as a professional, and a draft development plan on how to achieve it.

Deliverables

In this course personal and group reflections are key, that is why we expect you to deliver a series of notes and conclusions from each activity. We want you to post them in your personal blog daily so other students can see them too. The final result should be a text relating your current identity as a designer, your vision of the future, and a personal development plan for the master (and beyond).

Additional Resources

Annotated portfolios

Schön, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action. London: Temple Smith

The reflective transformative design process.

Hummels, C. C. M., & Frens, J. W. (2009). In CHI 2009 - digital life, new world: conference proceedings and extended abstracts; the 27th Annual CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, April 4 - 9, 2009 in Boston, USA (pp. 2655-2658). New York: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.

Designing for the unknown: A design process for the future generation of highly interactive systems and products.

Hummels, C. and Frens, J. (2008). Proceedings Conference on EPDE, Barcelona, Spain, 4-5 September 2008, pp. 204-209.

Eindhoven designs volume 2: Developing the competence of designing intelligent systems.

Hummels, C. and Vinke, D. (2009). Eindhoven University of Technology.

Faculty

Oscar Tomico

Oscar Tomico

Associate Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology

Oscar Tomico is associate professor at the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology on Design Research Methodologies for Posthuman Sustainability. His research revolves around 1st Person Perspectives to Research through Design at different scales (bodies, communities and socio-technical systems). Ranging from developing embodied ideation techniques for close or on the body applications (e.g. soft wearables), contextualized design interventions to situate design practice in everyday life, exploring the impact of future local, distributed, open and circular socio-technical systems of production, or experimenting with cohabitation as a posthuman approach to multi-species design.


Markel Cormenzana

Markel Cormenzana

Mechanical Engineer and Transition Designer

Markel Cormenzana, Transition Designer. Mechanical Engineer specialized in Product Development from the University of the Basque Country and the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Ma Advanced Design Studies (UPC-UB). He has channeled his professional activity towards designing (product, service, systems, UX...) and innovating to dance with the complex social, economic and environmental challenges we face as a civilization. He is also a regular guest teacher at several design schools in Barcelona such as IED, BAU, Elisava or ESDESIGN.


Sara Gonzalez de Ubieta

Sara Gonzalez de Ubieta

Mentor Teacher

Sara completed her studies in architecture at ETSAB (UPC) school and delved into crafting applied to footwear and textiles, which led her to explore the possibilities of non-conventional materials through various research projects. Sara has worked as a fashion and product designer locally, paying attention to the sourcing of materials from various industries and creating diverse collections. Her projects are centered around techniques and creation rooted in the agency of materials as living subjects and the relationship between objects and craftsmanship.


Saúl Baeza

Saúl Baeza

Creative Director

Saúl Baeza is DOES Creative Director, VISIONS BY Founder and Editor-in-chief, MAYBE Director and VIBE content director. While lecturing at Elisava Barcelona University of Design and Engineering he also researches functional and digital identities with the "Future Everyday" Research Group (TU Eindhoven Research) and "Futures Now" Research Group (Elisava Research). He has been visiting professor and lecturer at international universities, educational institutions and cultural venues such as Harvard GSD, Central Saint Martins and London College of Communication (UAL), Institute for advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), RMIT University Melbourne, Rhode Island School of Design, Pascual Bravo University in Medellín (Colombia), Sónar+D, Victoria&Albert Museum, CCCB and DHUB, among others.