PRODUCT DESIGN

Karen Hong

Karen Hong has been in ADM for over 5 years. The subjects that she teaches include Foundation 2D Design and Surface Design. She is also ADM's internship Co-ordinator since she joined ADM. Karen is trained as a Visual Artist in Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia. She majored in Jewellery Design and minored in Ceramics and Fibre / Textiles. Her interest in surface design and knowledge in these three areas of specialisation allows her to explore techniques in different mediums. She continued furthering her studies in Central St. Martins College of Arts and Design in London, UK specialising in the area of Fashion Textiles. She has been with the Art and Design education in Singapore for more than 10 years and had taught in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts. Before joining the School of Art, Design and Media, she was an Assistant Director with DesignSingapore Council. She managed the Design Culture Unit and spearheaded the collection of Singapore design statistics, and conducted a study on the Singaporeans Design Awareness Index. She also planned and launched the inaugural DesignSingapore Scholarship. As for professional practice, she has been working on one-offs textile designs as well as commercial fashion fabrics and fabrics for accessories under the label "TACTILE TEXTILES". () Her recent explorations are in the area of thermoplastic fabrics, working with thermoplastics in the form of fabrics and yarns. She is testing out if these thermoplastics can be given a 3D form regardless of construction methods and amalgamation with different surface design techniques which may change the physical and aesthetic properties of the thermoplastics. She is currently developing a series of SMART Textiles that can be used as tactile therapy for elderly care.

Ming Kin Leung

Ming Leung celebrates, interrogates and practices design in the widest sense of the word. In education, he has been Visiting Professor in the school of design and school of architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing; research consultant at Qinghua University, Beijing; project co-director at Beijing University; external examiner at Domus Academy, Milan; and external Tutor at the Royal College of Art. In addition, he has led workshops at Umea University, Sweden and Salzburg University of Applied Science; coached in the MBA programme of Imperial College Business School; and contributed to the Cross-Culture Design Programme at CAFA (Beijing) with Stanford University. In professional practice, he has been a founder and partners of three design studios in the UK and an architecture practice. His clients have included Akzo Nobel, Alcatel, Apple, Electrolux, Gillette, GSK, Nokia, Philips, Reebok, Samsung, Samick and SK. Over a billion products he designed and developed are in production globally, covering more than 50 industrial categories, ranging from scientific equipment to electronic goods, from sports equipment to domestic appliances. Whether inside or outside professional practice, he is interested in embedding culture in design, service and experience design, design and economics, and design and social entrepreneurship and responsibility

Suresh Sethi

Suresh Sethi began his career in Industrial Design at Philips India in 1983, soon firmly consolidating his position among India's best designers through various projects. He went on to pursue further study in Italy, receiving his MA from the Domus Academy in Milan, where he studied under design icons like Andrea Branzi, Ettore Sottsass, and Gaetano Pesce and established strong links to Italian design.In 1988, Suresh began his own company, Circus Design Studio, focusing on product design and continuing, throughout the 1990s, his professional work in consumer products and lighting design for firms in Asia and Europe, including Philips, Alessi, Akai, Eveready, Proctor & Gamble, and Videocon. Suresh's guiding belief that products must be user-friendly has seen a number of his designs successfully re-run in various markets worldwide. From 1989-1993 Suresh collaborated on the project, Organic Houses, with Nari Gandhi, an architect associated in the past with Frank Lloyd Wright. During the same period he also worked on Strategies for Living Crafts with Rajeev Sethi. From 1993 onwards he worked on the design of maritime-related projects, notably, the Mumbai Maritime Gallery, and an installation, "Sea-India" in Mumbai, for the International Fleet Review in 2001 Suresh has been a Visiting Professor, and has led many workshops and seminars at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India; the National Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur, India; the National Institute of Fashion and Technology, Mumbai, India; and SNDT University, Mumbai. Before joining NTU as the lead faculty in Product Design in 2005, Suresh was a tenured Professor at the Industrial Design Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, India. As of 2010, Assoc. Prof. Suresh Sethi has stepped down from his position at NTU to continue his pursuit of perfection in industrial design at a leading design firm in Shanghai.