Megan Valanidas is an industrial designer and studio artist with a focus in biomaterials, national security and existential threat. She focuses on nature, convenience, the role of chance and the inevitability of accidents to suggest methods, materials and strategies for a better tomorrow.
Specializing in biomaterial application and interactivity, her work establishes and employs methods for designing our waste stream by collaborating with extra-human species such as locally present decomposers. She has lectured and exhibited her work nationally and internationally on the topics of biomaterials and their application.
In addition to her work in biomaterials, Valanidas is a creative director with the Altimeter Design Group, where she specializes in speculative and discursive design and applying these tools to policy change and complex systems. In this capacity, she has collaborated and exhibited with groups including the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, among others.
Juniors take two 3-credit Special Topic Design Studios in the Fall semester. Juniors choose one 3-credit option from the Content category such as Packaging, Typography, Play, or UI/UX, and the other option from the "Process" category such as Casting, Soft Goods or Prototyping. Students will gain multiple competencies by utilizing techniques and methodologies through practice and process. Each studio meets once per week.
Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Preference is given to Industrial Design Students.
