Speakers

I am an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at MIT, where I lead the Fabrication-Integrated Design Lab (FIDL). My research focuses on co-development of mechanism design and the methods by which we make them, taking inspiration from biology, and manufacturing methods ranging from traditional to cutting edge. This is rooted in a deep interest in the intersection of design and manufacturing, which I discovered as a mechanical engineer and a glassblower at MIT. Motivating my work is the creation of tools for working in challenging environments like the deep sea and working with specimen that are delicate, compliant, and complex. 

I design the conditions to spark change. My practice connects education, design, technology and business development exploring the frontiers of emergent technologies and cultural change. Playing with fashion, technology and craft in an era of AI, design and complexity, my work has been featured in New York Times, Financial Times, BBC World Service, Business of Fashion, Telegraph, Dezeen, and Forbes. Current work focuses on, 'Dressing Robots. I work as an academic at University of Edinburgh, department of Design Informatics, lead Innovation for Edinburgh Futures Institute and am Co-Founder and Non-Executive Director, Holition Augmented Retail.

I’m an Assistant Professor at TU/e, Industrial Design. My research examines how the material-turn in HCI allows dynamic materials to express temporal (change-in-time) behaviours, notably in molecular-driven actuators, through theoretical concepts such as “temporal form” and “tension-and-release”, which are typically found in time-based contexts (film, music, dance, games, and storytelling). My diverse background includes performance design (Central Saint Martins), the founding of my company Rainbow Winters (interactive materials), and a PhD in Textiles (Royal College of Art). Following my PhD, I worked in education (RCA), where I directed and developed the Textiles “Soft Systems” MA. pathway and served as a visiting lecturer for MA. Innovation Design Engineering.

Louis-Philippe Demers combines several profiles: Artist, Freelance Designer, Professor, Researcher and Entrepreneur. He is a multidisciplinary artist using hybrid and trans-disciplinary approaches. He worked on the conception and production of several large-scale interactive robotic installations, so far realizing more than 400 machines. His robotics works could be found in theatre, opera, subway stations, art museums, science museums, music events and trade shows. He also conceives and realizes interactive environments exhibited and used in museums, festivals, corporate events and public spaces. He was a Full Professor of Digital Media and Exhibit Design at the HfG/KM Karlsruhe. Full Professor of Creative Innovation and Director of the Creative Lab at the Queensland University of Technology. Demers was a tenured Associate Professor at the School of Art, Design and Media (NTU) . Demers also holds visiting professorships at the UAL Wimbledon and in the past, at CAFA (Beijing) and at the Universität für angewandte Kunst Wein.