Meet the Alumni: Class of 2017
Xumeng Mou
Xumeng is a Product Designer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. She has also worked as an Industrial/UX Designer at ION Design, an award-winning product design and development firm, collaborating with some of the world's leading healthcare and consumer product companies. Before joining Products of Design, Xumeng earned her Bachelor of Science at the Beijing Institute of Technology. During her undergraduate studies, she participated in the 7th Honda Eco Mileage Challenge with a team of mechanical and electrical engineering students to develop two energy-saving race cars. Xumeng’s thesis work, ABSURD INTELLIGENCE: Explorations of the Unconscious, received a Core 77 Award and was recognized by the Global Grad Show during Dubai Design Week.
Website: mouxumeng.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/xumengmou
Arjun Kalyanpur
Arjun is an Associate Director of Creative Strategy at Code and Theory in New York City. Previously, he worked at 10XBeta where he consulted as a product manager and design engineer on medical devices, IoT consumer products, and robotics. He has also worked for a retail packaging company, creating and launching several products for the luxury cosmetics brand La Prairie Switzerland. Arjun earned a BS in Engineering and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University before joining MFA Products of Design. Arjun's thesis, Invisible Tethers: How Time and Memory Shape Products and Places, posits that people are connected to one another through time via shared experiences and history with objects and places.
Website: arjun-kalyanpur.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/arjun-kalyanpur-27966830
Julia Lindpaintner
Julia is an Innovation Specialist and UX Designer at 18F, an office within the General Services Administration that partners with federal agencies to improve government user experience. Previously, Julia worked as a senior designer at innovation consulting firm Luminary Labs and served as a Civic Digital Fellow for the US Census Bureau’s Census Open Innovation Lab (COIL). While at MFA Products of Design, Julia worked for Common Cents Lab, where she studied behavioral economics and worked with a team on products to improve the financial well-being of low and middle-income Americans. Before joining PoD, Julia spent three years on Michael Bierut’s team at Pentagram, where she acted as project manager, strategist, researcher, and writer on a wide range of projects. Her thesis, entitled JUSTICE BY ALL: Revitalizing Civic Engagement in the Judicial System, was presented in May 2017.
Website: julialindpaintner.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/julia-lindpaintner
Doug Fertig
Doug is a Senior Product Designer at DocuSign in New York City. Previously, he was employed as a Product Designer at Disney Streaming Services, and was a UX/UI Designer at Everlasting Footprint, Fuzz, Live Surface, and loeb.nyc. Doug earned a BFA in Ceramics from Alfred University and an MFA in Ceramics from SUNY New Paltz. In his previous career as a ceramicist, Doug had a line of ceramic products for sale on Gilt and a commission with Kulvase for a vase featured in House Beautiful. He has taught at SUNY New Paltz, Marymount Manhattan College, and Long Island University. His thesis, entitled POWER SUITS: Building Confidence in Children with Mental Health Conditions, was presented in May 2017.
Website: dougfertig.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/doug-fertig-1104a231
Gahee Kang
Gahee is a Product Designer at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the Bay Area. After graduating from MFA Products of Design, she worked as a Product Designer at GoDaddy in San Francisco, where she designed a suite of tools for web developers. Gahee was also the Co-founder and Lead Experience Designer for Play Lab—an experience design firm that creates learning experiences for children with Digital Technology. At Playlab, Gahee led workshops at the Museum of the Moving Image, Brooklyn's Children Museum, and Maker Faire. She completed her undergraduate studies in industrial design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) before moving to New York. Gahee's thesis, entitled Digital Natives: Promoting Analog Behaviors in Children’s Cognitive Development, was presented in May 2017.
Website: gaheekang.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/gahee-kang
Michael Kenney
Michael is a Senior UX Researcher and Strategist for IBM in Austin, Texas. He develops content strategies, standards, and voice and tone guidelines. He also worked as a UX Strategist for them—focusing on rapid prototyping of front-end interfaces for cognitive (AI) architecture. Michael’s previous work experience includes creating physical and digital product experiences for startups and established brands, such as Vans, Dannon, SYFY and Microsoft. His thesis, entitled Instigationism, is built on a foundation of design work that is intended to incite physical activity in sedentary populations. By combining research insights from the fields of psychology, game design, behavioral economics, and immersive media, Michael's thesis pushes us to reexamine our relationship with exercise.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/michaelleekenney
Ailun Sai
Ailun is a Strategic Designer at designaffairs in Shanghai. Previously, Ailun was a designer at IDEO, where she embraced the role of a hands-on product designer and a storyteller. A few of the projects she has worked on have been taken to market, focusing on creating strategic vision directives for clients. Ailun also was the lead designer for Bonbouton, a medical technology firm promoting preventive diabetes health care. While in this role, she collaborated with the engineering team to conceptualize and define product solutions for diabetes-monitoring wearables. Ailun also has experience working at Vayu Inc. as an industrial designer—conceptualizing functional prototypes to production-ready CAD models. She holds a BFA in industrial design from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. DOMINION: Redefining the Relationship Between Animals and Humans, was presented in May 2017.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/ailun-s-5a8368117
Joshua Corn
Josh is one of the co-founders and lead designers for Double Take Labs—a transdisciplinary design studio making exhibitions, robots and installations for clients such as MoMA Store. Josh also teaches courses at Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts, and CUNY City College of Technology. Prior to establishing Double Take Labs, he was a design and electrical engineering intern at Tomorrow Lab, and design director at Throughlines. Before joining the MFA Products of Design program, Josh graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s in Architecture, and then worked as an architectural lighting designer and theatre consultant for Schuler Shook in Chicago. His thesis, entitled Awe and Astonishment: Wonder in the Age of Democratized Magic, aims to inspire wonder and awe through the design of products, services, and experiences.
Website: www.doubletake.design
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/joshcorn
Jenna Witzleben
Jenna is an ecological designer currently working towards her Master's in Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon. Her practice leverages a suite of design tools and methods, integrating her background in engineering, transdisciplinary design, and design strategy to cultivate socio-ecological health and biocultural diversity. During the three years following her graduation from MFA Products of Design, Jenna was a Design Strategist at Arup in New York City. And before that, Jenna earned her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. Jenna's thesis, entitled Finding the Wild: A Visceral Approach to Sustainability, explores an alternative future trajectory—“rewilding”—and how physical and emotional reconnection with our natural environments can inspire lifestyles of environmental stewardship.
Website: jennawitzleben.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jenna-witzleben-1a47848a
Oscar Pipson
Oscar is the Art Director for Game Seven Marketing—an experience design shop that creates, develops and executes innovative and authentic experiences for its customers. Prior to joining MFA Products of Design, he worked as a designer, researcher and teacher on multi-material 3D printing for Victoria University School of Design and Callaghan Innovation. He has also consulted for Formway Design Studio, world leaders in high performance furniture. Oscar’s product—Divine Proportion Bottle Opener—is sold at the MoMA Store worldwide. An award winner at the Core77 Design Awards and Best Design Awards, Oscar’s work has also been featured on numerous international design blogs. His thesis, SOUL'D: Exploring the Commodification and Appropriation of Black Cool, was presented in May 2016.
Website: oscarpipson.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/oscar-pipson-8434504b
Alexa Forney
Alexa is the Lead Designer at Sonderwelt, a studio specializing in helping online brands improve their product experience through ethical packaging. Alexa's previous experience includes designing for Loliware——a bioplastics startup dedicated to eliminating plastic partyware. Her product, Tic-Tac-Trivet, is sold at the MoMA Store worldwide. Alexa has also worked as a 3D designer for Carla Diana Design and helped create LEO the Maker Prince, the world's first children's book on 3D printing. Before joining MFA Products of Design, she earned a BS in Product Design from Drexel University. Alexa's thesis, entitled With, Despite, Because: Living your Best Life with Chronic Pain, was presented in May 2017.
Website: sonderwelt.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/alexaforney
Will Lentz
Will is an inventor, designer, and craftsperson based in Richmond, Virginia. Currently, he is an Exhibit Preparator and Carpenter at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Will has previously worked as a manager and fabricator in Brooklyn at shops including Z-Studios and YoungBuk Art Services. After receiving his BA in Studio Sculpture from Hendrix College in Arkansas, he also served as a Core Fellow at Penland School of Crafts in Western North Carolina, where he developed a diverse set of fine craft skills ranging from ceramics and glass to wood and metalwork. Will's thesis, entitled Eating Together: Explorations in an Anti-Social Food System, promotes a resurgence in the social value of communal eating experiences.
Website: willclentz.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/will-lentz-02668658
Andrea Cameron
Andrea is a Freelance Strategist at Brightspot Strategy in New York City. Previously, Andrea was a Fellow at SVA's Groundfloor Incubator, where she worked with an education startup on a platform connecting students to transnational mentors. Andrea graduated from Cornell University with a multi-disciplinary BS degree in mechanical engineering and ergonomics, where she conducted research studies on physical and cognitive ergonomics in product design. While at MFA Products of Design, Andrea continued her focus on human-centered design while expanding to user research methodologies, systems thinking, branding, and UX design. Her thesis, entitled Playing with Firebrands, explores student agency in education.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/link-with-andrea
Karen Vellensky
Karen is a freelance design strategist based in New York City. She serves as the national design committee member for the Democratic Socialists of America, and facilitates co-creation workshops for their members. Karen is currently a fellow at SVA’s Groundfloor Incubator, where she is designing and branding a digital platform for accountability and transformative justice around sexual assault and harassment. Previously, she worked as a costumer, milliner, and hair & makeup artist. Karen's thesis, entitled Good Grief: Inducing Eco-Anxiety as a Call to Climate Action, includes products and services that humanize the narrative around climate change, intentionally creating opportunities for experiencing the depression and anxiety caused by the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. In doing so, her thesis aims to instigate an urgent demand for climate action.
Website: squirrelhomemaking.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/karen-vellensky
Dayoung Hong
Dayoung is a product designer based in New York City, where she creates digital screen experiences and interactive prototypes for clients, including BMW USA. Before joining Products of Design, Dayoung earned her BFA in Industrial Design from Sookmyung Women's University and worked in several design fields, including UX/UI, graphic design, package design, and editorial design. Dayoung's design work has been highlighted at the Seoul Design Festival, and she has experience interning at R/GA and Sid Lee. Before moving to NYC, she participated in an industry-academic project with SAMSUNG ITS. Dayoung's thesis, PYGMALION: Creating Systems to Empower people with Social Anxiety Disorder, was presented in May 2017.
Website: dayounghong.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dayounghong