Design Fellows

Design fellows bring unique perspectives to the Jacobs community. Fellows participating in design activities and exchanging ideas with students and other members of the institute’s community. Each fellow contributes to the institute in a different way, in formats that range from open office hours to creative workshops. Students and instructors, we invite you to get to know the design fellows by checking out their bios and setting up a time to talk with them; learn more below.

Current Design Fellows

	Zahin Ali (IEOR ’11) is an Interaction Design Lead at IDEO where he leads interdisciplinary project teams to solve ambiguous problems with human-centered design thinking practices. He engages in all stages of the innovation process: defining strategy, user research, identifying key insights, building and testing prototypes, product/vision storytelling, and bringing products and services to market. As a design consultant, he works with a growing portfolio of global clients in a range of industries such as mobility, healthcare, education, and financial services. In a prior career, he leveraged his Berkeley IEOR degree to design manufacturing systems at Tesla. He then made his way to design in an unconventional path via startups, a stint with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and with graduate work from Art Center College of Design and the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design where he earned a Masters in Interaction Design. He currently teaches a graduate course in Visual Design at the DePaul University School of Computing and Digital Media. Schedule a meeting with Zahin during his office hours.
	Jaewoo Chung, Ph.D., is a UX leader and technologist trained in the field of UX Design, HCI, Computer Science, Music Composition and Psychology. He received his PhD from MIT Media Lab. Jaewoo has been working in industry and academia more than 20 years, dealing on various topics such as multi-modal interaction systems (voice, gesture, touch), intelligent systems for mobile and wearable, virtual/mixed reality, IoT, decision support systems, and smart homes. He is currently Head of UX Design and Research @ HP and previously, he was the Director of Next Experience Display Lab @ Samsung. Get in touch with Jaewoo via email; his weekly office hours are Fridays 9am – 2pm.
	Mason Friedberg (MEng ’19) is an engineer and designer working at the crossroads of functionality and aesthetic. With a background in mechanical engineering and product design from Texas A&M and UC Berkeley, his experience in prototyping research and development, automotive, food robotics, and client product design gives him a diverse portfolio of many different aspects of industry. Designing for emotional connection to create engaging experiences that draw users in is something he strives for in all his work. He is currently working at the forefront of exhibit engineering and design at San Francisco’s well known interactive science museum, the Exploratorium, as a Manager of the Design and Development team. He is also a huge hands-on tinkerer and appreciator of all things craft. Mason has previously given guest lectures at Jacobs in DES INV 15: Design Methodology, DES INV 10: Discovering Design, and DES INV 190: Human Centered Design Methods. He is excited to talk with students about exhibit and experience design, product development, mechanical design, and give general career advice. You can book a time to speak with him on his Calendly page.
	Purin Phanichphant is an artist, designer, and educator with a deep interest in the intersection between creativity and mindfulness. Purin combines his roots in Northern Thailand, where he spent part of his life as a Buddhist monk, with his background in designing innovative products and experiences in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds a BFA in Industrial Design and Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MFA in Product Design from Stanford University. He previously worked as a principal product designer at IDEO San Francisco, and taught design courses at Stanford University and General Assembly. Over the past several years at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, he has taught DES INV 21: Visual Communication and Sketching, DES INV 181: Reimagining Mobility, and held multiple workshops on Visual Design Hacking and Designing Your First Portfolio. As a Design Fellow, he hopes to help students realize their full potential not only as design practitioners, but also as designers of their own lives and the world we all live in. Contact Purin via email or book an office hour appointment with him.