Meet the Class of 2022
Isabell Park
Isabell is an Interaction Designer at Code and Theory in New York City. Born in South Korea and raised in California, Isabell completed her bachelor's degree in sociology at UCLA. After graduating, she worked at an e-commerce start-up in marketing, where she tapped into strategy and design thinking. After her first year at MFA Products of Design, Isabell completed a summer internship at HYPEBEAST in creative strategy, where she worked with clients including Adidas, Le Labo, Hyundai, and Playstation. Isabell's thesis, The Powerless Metaverse: Inclusivity, Equity, and Ownership, investigates the Metaverse through the lens of design to solve complex problems of access, socioeconomic gaps, and more.
Website: isabellpark.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/isabell-park-ab7849118
Margarita Zulueta
Margarita is a UX Designer at the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME) and has previously worked with clients including Public Goods, DUMBO BID, GrowNYC, Local Story, Backpack Interactive, and Wondersauce. She identifies as a Filipino-American and a proud Third-Culture Individual. Born in Chicago, Margarita was raised in the Philippines, Singapore, Indiana, Hong Kong, and Japan. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree at New York University's Hotel and Tourism Management program with a concentration in Organizations and Operations. Her thesis, Weighted: Designing Towards Fat Liberation, investigates how anti-fat bias affects fat-identifying women through the lens of design.
Website: margaritazulueta.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/inmargaritazulueta
Qiting Fang
Qiting is a Product Designer at butlr in New York City. Born and raised in Guangzhou, China, Qiting earned her bachelor's degree in Industrial Design from Ningbo Institute of Technology at Zhejiang University. She also participated in an exchange student program in the United Kingdom at Nottingham Trent University. As an undergraduate student, Qiting won the Red Dot Design Award, Hiiibrand Design Award, and Platinum Originality Graphic Design Competition. During the summer following her first year at MFA Products of Design, she gained work experience in UX design through internships at Bytedance, Tiktok. Her thesis, Telecommunication Fraud: Raising Awareness Around Fighting Fraudsters, investigates ways to reduce the probability of being deceived.
Website: www.qtttingf.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/qiting-fang-368ab5206
Shu Han "Felix" Ho
Felix is an industrial designer based in New York City, who previously worked at butlr, Radical Department and Arrow Medsource Group. He grew up in Taiwan and received his BA in Industrial Design from Shi Chien University. Before joining PoD, Felix worked as a Product Designer for MIT Legend, a product design studio in Taipei, where he specialized in product manufacturing and materials processing. Through MIT Legend, his design works have been sold to companies such as the Container Store, John Lewis, and Hola. Felix's thesis, Bridged Reality: Using Technology to Nurture Distant Relationships, explores how technologies can break the barrier for those who are dear to us but living far away.
Website: felixhodesign.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/felix-ho-2a3812156
Danna Krouham
Danna is a Creative Strategist at Code and Theory in New York City. Born and raised in Mexico City, she completed her bachelor's degree in Industrial Design at Universidad Iberoamericana, where she studied business development, product design, UI/UX design, healthcare systems design, and project management. In 2020, as teacher and Design Lead, Danna joined Publicolor, an NYC-based organization focusing on engaging disaffected students through a continuum of design-based programs that mentor them for success in school, college, career, and life. Danna's thesis, Chronic: How Understanding Your Pain Can Change Your Pain, is an in-depth analysis of the complexity of the chronic pain system.
Website: dannakrouham.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/danna-krouham/
Anne Keating
Anne is a designer based in New York City. Before joining PoD, Anne earned a BA and MA in English and Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in American Studies. She has previously taught at NYU, receiving NYU's Outstanding Service award for her work integrating technology into classroom instruction, which led to the publication of her 1999 book, The Wired Professor. As Chief Technology Officer at The General Theological Seminary, Anne designed and set up the seminary's technology infrastructure spanning a city block in Manhattan. Alongside this career, Anne has worked as a freelance graphic artist since the 1980s. Her thesis, A Fascination with Noise: Contact Mics, Everyday Objects, and Product Design, documents and explores the culture and implications of this small piece of technology.
Website: keatingstudio.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in.anne-keating-b78a7274
Zekun Yang
Zekun is a Designer at One Market in New York City. She majored in Product Design and Manufacture at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, and graduated with first-class honors. After graduation, Zekun worked as an industrial design intern at TRASHAUS, a start-up that provides creative waste management solutions. In the summer after her first year at MFA Products of Design, she worked as a UX Consultant at beBit in Shanghai. She is currently a member of WIN: Women in Innovation. In her thesis, Do As a Pirate Does: An Unauthorized Hacking Guide to a Creative Future, Zekun has designed products to encourage people to act like pirates, critique designs, and invite more people to build, make, and design.
Website: yangzekun.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zekun-yang-103b361a4
Wen Severus Xie
Wen is a Senior Product Designer at FanDuel in New York City. He was previously a Product Designer at L'Oréal. After his first year at MFA Products of Design, Wen interned as a UX designer at Sony, and NIO, helping them impact their business and users. Before moving to New York, he attended Staffordshire University in England, where he earned a BA with first-class honors in Business Management. During college, Wen founded a club on campus, leading projects helping socially vulnerable groups, including people living with HIV, leprosy patients, and the Chinese LGBTQ+ community. He has demonstrated his diverse design ability in different industries, including intelligent automobiles, consumer electronics, and e-commerce. Wen's MFA thesis focuses on human connection in the digital workspace, bringing about a more connected and humane experience for those of us working remotely.
Website: wenxdesign.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/wenxdesign
Gaoming Lyu
Gaoming is a Visual Designer at Gro Intelligence and was previously at EHOMIE in New York City. Born and raised in Fuzhou, China, she moved to the US for her undergraduate studies, where she graduated from Binghamton University with a BA in Studio Art. During college, Gaoming gained experience as a design assistant at the student-run newspaper and a graphic design intern at the BU Transportation and Parking Services. Gaoming has worked as a graphic designer at a start-up media company, focusing on brand design and promotional marketing materials. In the summer after her first year at MFA Products of Design, she worked as a UI Designer at M System Inc. Gaoming’s thesis investigates the topic of fandom, focusing on the relationship between idols and their fans. Her design projects concentrate on closing the distance and building a healthy fan-idol relationship.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gaoming-lyu-331559127
Baoqi Ding
Baoqi is an interdisciplinary designer with a background in fashion. She majored in Accessory Design at Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, where she won the Design Day competition and received a leather designer national certification. Over the last four years, she has worked in the fields of fashion, service, and product design. Baoqi has worked with the service design team at Horizon Research Consultancy Group and at NBCUniversal where she designed a 3D virtual tour experience by incorporating CG technology. Baoqi has also assisted with accessory design for Lily's spring/summer collection and the Prof.zhang Children’s Functional Shoes development project at Aishande Medical Technology Company. Recently, she volunteered as a workplace diversity initiative designer and helped publish a survey report on LGBTQ+ diversity and inclusion in corporations in China. Baoqi's thesis focuses on design interventions to make the AI system more inclusive and less biased.
Website: www.baoqiding.net
Jingxuan Susan Zhang
Jingxuan is an industrial designer from Wuhan, China, who is highly concerned about feminist topics. Before joining MFA Products of Design, she received a degree in digital manufacturing design from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and a degree in industrial design from the Hubei University of Technology in China. After graduation, Jingxuan worked for an international trading company for three years, where she helped the company set up a supply chain management department with full functions in manufacturing, receiving, quality inspection, packaging, and logistics in Shenzhen, China. Through her thesis, Cute No More: Asian Women's Unity and Resistance in Public Space, she hopes to bring new thinking and influence through design for feminist activity in Asia.
Website: www.susanjzhang.com
Jane Luca
Jane is a freelance designer at Qiqa Startup in Berlin, Germany. Before joining MFA Products of Design, she worked as a subcontractor for Apple, translating public transit data between German and English. Born and raised in Romania, Jane immigrated to the United States at 15. Shortly after graduating high school, she joined the Marine Corps, was stationed in California, and completed two Afghanistan tours. After an honorable discharge, Jane studied German Literature and Culture at Columbia University; her bachelor thesis focused on the theater audience's lack of empathy and distortion of Schiller's Don Carlos plot. She has also lived in Berlin for a year and completed a woodworking apprenticeship at DeSantis Designs. Jane's master's thesis investigates how certain systems are broken, and the burden of that collapse falls on the shoulders of the individual.