MFA Product Design Students & Alumni
From designing space stations to music streaming apps and conversational AI. From entrepreneurs to senior experience designers and graphic designers.
STUDENTS
Our product design students emerge confident, powerful, agile, and skilled.
From Brooklyn to Bangkok, the students of the MFA in Product Design are a diverse group of designers from varying backgrounds, disciplines, nationalities and cultures. Together, they embark on an immersive journey in New York City, exploring multiple design lenses and creating important, thoughtful work. Our students secure positions at some of the most prestigious consultancies in the world, such as IDEO, frog, Apple, SYPartners, R/GA, Google, Fuseproject, Lyft, Pentagram, Vice Media, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and argodesign.
Class Of 2027
Manya Swick
Manya is a multidisciplinary designer with a background in the sciences, drawn to design that explores the intersections of expression and functionality. She grew up in a small Connecticut town, halfway between New York City and Boston, and studied biology at Davidson College, where she also competed on the Division I cross country and track teams. Seeking to connect her scientific background with her artistic instincts, she later attended design school in Atlanta before moving to Brooklyn to begin her professional career. Before joining MFA Products of Design, Manya focused primarily on graphic design, working across a range of environments and industries. Most recently, she worked at Mother Design and in-house at startups including Away and Sakara. Manya approaches her practice with curiosity and open-mindedness, and is exploring what it means to cultivate quietness and intentionality in an increasingly loud and fast-paced world.
Lauren Wedderburn
Lauren is a designer and artist of Jamaican ancestry, born and raised in New York. She works across digital design, immersive installations, and production design, with a focus on world-building, collective care, and portals for connection. After earning her BA in Computer Science and Interaction Design from George Washington University, she interned with Code and Theory and went on to work as a product designer for startups in New York. Since then, she has designed environments such as A Third Place, a playscape centered on rest and ritual, and served as a production designer on commercial projects, short films, and music videos. Guided by the belief that design is most powerful when it nurtures community, Lauren approaches design as a tool for liberation. At MFA Products of Design, she strives to refine the language around her work and explore different approaches to making tangible impact.
Tristan Murff
Tristan is a multidisciplinary designer whose work moves between product, interiors, and brand systems. Raised abroad between China and Europe and educated in the Netherlands (BSc, International Business), Tristan has worked across tech, education, and the arts—holding design roles at Mercedes-Benz, tech startups, and later serving as Brand Director for historian Yuval Noah Harari. In New York, he co-founded Graine Studio, where recent projects explore the intersection of furniture, space, and identity. His practice emphasizes form making, ritual, and human experience—creating objects and spaces that invite participation rather than demand attention. Featured in both international and local outlets, Tristan joins MFA Products of Design with the aim of rethinking design, expanding his fabrication vocabulary, and exploring how products and environments can scale thoughtfully from one-off pieces to systems.
Batu Alpas
Batu is a designer and animator from Ankara, Turkey. Raised on Disney, Pixar, and the animated films of the 1980s and 1990s, he developed an early fascination with the power of music and image to shape emotion and story. He earned his BFA in Animation from California College of the Arts, where his films were featured in international and local festivals and received multiple awards through his collective, +1 Studios. Batu collaborates with rappers and DJs from Turkey on music videos, concert visuals, and immersive live experiences, blending motion design with sound. Beyond animation, he continues to develop thwirteen, a brand exploring objects, furniture, clothing, and environments. Across mediums, Batu approaches his work as a storyteller, creating art that connects people and invites shared meaning.
Class Of 2026
Christiana (Ana) Aghjayan
Christiana is a first-generation American and a first-generation student from New Jersey. Growing up surrounded by the hustle and bustle of her family’s jewelry manufacturing business, Christiana developed a deep interest in the mechanics of the production process. Her broad curiosity and appetite for learning led her to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at Florida International University, as well as User Experience Design at General Assembly. Before joining PoD, she spent two years at Berlin Rosen as an Account Coordinator for digital entertainment and gaming companies, handling press releases, campaign strategy and research, and bringing clients’ visions to life through vivid campaigns. A passion for storytelling, innovation, and accessibility is truly what drives her.
Website: christiana.work
Sofia Grytsenko
Sofia Grytsenko is a User Experience Designer who was born and raised in New Jersey before moving to Rochester, New York for an undergraduate degree. They graduated summa cum laude with a Human-Centered Computing Major with Web Development and Psychology Minor from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). After graduation, Sofia interned at QuidelOrtho as a User Experience Design Intern and found a new appreciation for medical and healthcare systems. This led to their position as a Quality Assurance Analyst at Continual Care Solutions, an application that aids nonprofits in all of their processes. After being involved with the Lucky Flea this year, Sofia is excited to pivot towards fashion and music, and to provide creative solutions to complex problems.
Website: sofgry19.github.io
Ta-Shea Brown
Tashea is a New York-based multidisciplinary designer originally from Kingston, Jamaica. After receiving her BFA from The Cooper Union, she began her professional career at Champions Design in NY, and shortly after began teaching design at the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Each of these experiences gave life an entirely new meaning: it was during that time that Tashea developed a passion for serving people, making a change, and leaving a lasting impact. Before joining the MFA Products of Design program, Tashea’s focus was primarily on brand development, aiding organizations including Monkey Paw Productions and Color Of Change in crafting effective strategies and designs for social justice initiatives, fundraising, and membership growth.
Website: 100metresstudio.com
Monty Preston
Monty is a multimedia designer and curator living in Brooklyn. She was raised in Toronto and graduated summa cum laude with a BASc in Linguistics and Spanish from University of Toronto. Monty worked at industry-disrupting startups including The RealReal in San Francisco, BeautyPie in London, and Saatchi Art in Los Angeles — where she led Curation and Art Advisory under Rebecca Wilson. In 2022, she founded a creative production consultancy in the web3 space, leading initiatives including the launch of Ledger’s digital art programs in Paris. She serves as the Editor in Chief of the Boys Club Zine and designs crypto-forward fashion accessories. At PoD, she’s eager to enlist her interests in emerging technology and sustainable innovation to develop living products that address the challenges of our transforming world.
Website: montypreston.xyz
Introducing our Alumni
Class Of 2025
Ningfu (Nymph) Yang
Born and raised in Beijing, Ningfu Yang earned her bachelor’s degree in Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. During her time in university, Ningfu studied product and industrial design abroad at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, which led her to collaborate with IBM on various projects and consult SPRG as a visual designer. Her interest in product interaction has led her to many conferences and competitions, having won prizes at the National Computer Competition for Colleges and Universities (NCCCU), Beijing University Industrial Design Competition and achieving final selection at the International Design Awards (IDA). To Ningfu, design is a way to live and communicate with the world and she hopes to explore more diversified and wonderful interactive methodologies during her time at PoD.
Website: designlabnymph.com
Harsha Pillai
Harsha Pillai is a multidisciplinary designer who hopes to bring more joy and universal design principles to everyday experiences. Born in Switzerland and raised in Germany to Indian immigrant parents, Harsha is a proud “third-culture kid.” Harsha completed her undergraduate studies with a professional degree in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). During her time there, Harsha co-founded an art zine, Cumulus, and was involved in running the college art gallery. Before joining the MFA Products of Design program, Harsha worked as an architectural intern at OKW Architects in Chicago.
Website: harshapillai.com
Yining (Jinny) Zhang
Yining “Jinny” Zhang received a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication Design at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, awarded the title of Outstanding Graduate. Jinny has served as team leader and designer of Beijing Design Week, during which they reported research results in the China Millennium Memorial Hall and facilitated the practice of New Year pictures. Yining has received many academic and design accolades, including excellent exhibition work in the packaging design category. Jining has also served as Minister of the Student Union, cadre of the Red Cross and as a volunteer for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Website: sealion-badger-s4lr.squarespace.com
Tao Tao Holmes
Tao Tao Holmes grew up in a very old house, in a very rural part of New England. An only child in the middle of nowhere, she subsisted on creative hijinx, none of which can be explained succinctly. After studying writing at Yale, she spent a year teaching English a few miles from the Eurasian Pole of Inaccessibility. After a motorcycle accident forced her back to the US, she found her professional home at Atlas Obscura, founding the trips department and taking the curious on unusual outdoor adventures. Having self-medicated with animation and illustration throughout the pandemic, she’s giddy to explore at PoD.
Website: taotaoholmes.com
Class Of 2024
Yukti Arora
Yukti is a product designer based in New York who loves asking questions, working in ambiguous problem spaces, and collaborating with cross-functional teams in rapid-paced environments. Originally from India, she earned her bachelor's degree in Industrial Design at the Ohio State University. In the recent past, Yukti was the Designer Founder at Buildsys, a construction productivity app. At Builldsys, she learned how to build, ship, and sell enterprise SAAS products and manage human-centered, iterative, and collaborative creative culture. After her first year at Products of Design, she interned as a UX Designer at Evolve Collaborative. Yukti is currently in love with the power of play and curious about the interplay of design, AI, and play as a way to have an impact on how we learn, tell stories, spark curiosity, build connections, and collaborate. Her thesis, Democratizing Bharatnatyam: Investigating the Interplay Between Dance and AI, explores how Artificial Intelligence can bridge the gap in learning Bharatnatyam, a 2,500-year-old Indian classical dance form.
Website: yuktiarora.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/yuktiarora5/
Nigel Keen
Nigel is a Brand Manager at American Design Club spearheading brand signage for Trade Shows. He also works as a Product Designer and Strategist at Riffle Ventures in New York City, focusing on brand building and climate innovation strategy for multiple climate tech products and companies. An East Coast native, Nigel attended La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in integrated science, business, and technology. Before joining the MFA Products of Design program, Nigel worked as a Technical Sales Consultant for Igus, Inc., an engineered polymer manufacturer. He has worked with engineering and design teams across a range of manufacturers to incorporate more sustainable bearing solutions for moving components. Nigel's MFA thesis, Foot Forward: Reshaping the Culture of Running and Consumption, focuses on developing circular, regenerative supply chains for technical sports products using biomaterials and how this might impact models of ownership.
Website: nigelkeen.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nigelkeen/
Rohitha Remala
Rohitha is currently working as a Designer at a Healthcare Stealth Startup. She joined the MFA Products of Design program after two years as a Business Analyst and Consultant at HighRadius. She earned her undergraduate degree in engineering from Osmania University in Telangana, India, where she majored in information technology. Rohitha brought a diverse background to the program, having worked as a full-stack front-end web designer, developer, and data analyst in the fintech industry. She is deeply interested in the confluence of psychology, communication, and experience design, and how this blend can enhance the efficiency of large-scale systems. In her MFA thesis, Choosing to Stay: Helping Communities Combat Climate Migration, Rohitha aspires to design interactive experiences and communications that enlighten individuals about the ramifications of climate challenges on human-centric development.
Website: rohremala.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rohitha-remala-9353a3170/
Rora Rongxuan Pan
Rora is currently working as a UI/UX Designer at Librum Technologies Inc. She studied industrial design at the Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing and the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland. She is an active professional member of the Industrial Design Society Association. After completing her undergraduate studies, Rora worked as an industrial designer with a houseware company, where she designed for clients including Crate & Barrel, Williams Sonoma, Tovolo, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Magnolia. Rora managed several independent projects and created new collections for the brands she worked with—some of which were shown at The Inspired Home Show 2022 and are currently available on the market. To date, she holds seven patents in kitchenware design. Rora's thesis, Dreamscapes of Healing: Exploring Therapeutic Avenues for Nightmares, explores the possibilities of employing dreaming realization techniques to unveil a transformative path for individuals.
Website: rorapandeisgn.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rora-rongxuan-pan
Class Of 2023
Corey McClelland
Corey is currently a Lead Product Designer for Disney Streaming and Deputy Director, Flight Operations at AstroAccess. Previously he was the Associate Director of Interaction Design at Kettle in New York City. Originally from Southern California, he holds a BFA from Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design. Previously, Corey was the Associate Design Director at frog, and before that, he lead the design team at Walt Disney Imagineering. While at MFA Products of Design, Corey actively prototyped objects, environments, and interfaces for human spaceflight. During his graduate studies, he joined Teague, where he worked with Axiom Space to design the next space station to replace the ISS. Corey's thesis, Beyond the Right Stuff: Designing for Disability Inclusion in Space, was presented in May 2023.
Website: coreymcc.xyz
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/designcorey
Cathy Tung
Cathy is a Product Designer, AI at Vanilla and previously worked at Code and Theory in New York City. Originally from Taiwan with a background in marketing and management, she's especially interested in the intersection of psychology and user experience design and how it can be utilized to integrate technology into people's lives and improve system efficiency. Before joining the MFA Products of Design, Cathy worked as a project manager in digital-first design agencies, where she collaborated with interdisciplinary teams composed of researchers, strategists, designers, and full-stack engineers. She has designed for Ford, Logitech, Michelin, Quidel, and TED. Cathy's thesis, Well-rounded: Using Art to Enhance Interdisciplinary Learning, sheds light on the potential of art-integrated education to promote the development of hard and soft skills in children.
Website: cathytung.design
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chiahsuantung
Jaemin Cho
Jaemin is a New York-based Product Designer who enjoys translating complex business needs and ambiguity into crystal-clear design solutions. He currently works as a UX Content Designer at Google. Originally from South Korea, he earned his bachelor's degree in Industrial & Information Design at Korea University. After graduation, Jaemin worked as a Product Designer at several companies in Seoul, including LG CNS and NAVER. He has designed a range of contexts, including music streaming apps, messenger apps, conversational artificial intelligence, and dashboards. Jaemin's thesis, Beyond the Visuals: Reimagining Digital Accessibility for Blind and Low-Vision Communities, investigates the pressing question of how blind and visually impaired (BLV) users can read and interact with digital images in the post-text era dominated by images.
Website: jaemincho.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jaemin-cho-ux
Monica Albornoz
Monica is an experience and service designer who puts human-centered research at the forefront. She is currently working as an E-Commerce Design Consultant at MyCybermarkets.com. Born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, she has worked in production and innovation at local ceramic studios, as well as in digital marketing and graphic design for e-commerce businesses and emerging technology startups. Monica's experience includes branding and UX for Xanadu, a cutting-edge quantum computing company, and production of handmade dinnerware for Michelin-starred restaurants. She has freelanced with business management consultancies to help them translate abstract ideas into visual stories. Monica's thesis, Pasos: Design Interventions for Gendered Agency in Latin Partner Dance, explores ways to break gender norms in cosmopolitan partner dance.
Website: monicaalbornoz.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/monica-albornoz-designer
Class Of 2022
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
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
Class Of 2021
Kgothatso Lephoko
Kgothatso is a Senior UX Designer at SpotOn Consulting in Johannesburg, South Africa. With over six years of industry experience, she has worked on websites and native apps (iOS, OS X & Android) for companies including Discovery Limited, M-Net, and Standard Bank South Africa. At Standard Bank, Kgothatso was part of a cross-functional security team in which she played a significant role in crafting a more secure, multi-channel sign-in customer experience. Her thesis, Language In Language Out: Natural Language Processing in the Context of Indigenous South African Languages, explores the extent to which indigenous language speakers in South Africa are disadvantaged by technologies that exclude their languages and how design can be used to contribute to the development of more equitable tools to address this problem.
Website: kglephoko.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kgothatso-kg-lephoko-11132658
Karan Mahendra Bansal
Karan is a Senior Product Designer at Cisco in New York City. Born and raised in India, he received his Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Marathwada Institute of Technology, Aurangabad. After graduating, he worked with Infosys Labs for two years as a Systems Engineer, creating platforms for clients focusing on Machine Learning, Business Intelligence, Distributed Computing, Natural Language Processing, and Data Visualization. Karan has also worked as a Business Development Manager for Bansal Scientific Equipments, his family business in India, which provides consultation services around laboratory instruments. There he has worked with clients including Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer. His thesis, Overwhelmed: Work, Play, Time, and Design, investigates Time Poverty in the context of knowledge workers.
Website: karanbansal.me
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/karan-bansal-68b2627a
Shuyi Wang
Shuyi is a DC Consultant and Senior Graphic Designer at Deloitte. She is currently involved in UX/UI design for Pfizer, as well as graphic design and concept design for companies including NVIDIA, Life Science, and OptoAI Drone. After MFA Products of Design, Shuyi was hired as a Graphic Designer at One Step Up in New York City, where she designed for New Balance and RBX Boys Apparel. Before moving to the US, she earned her BA in Product Design from the China Academy of Art in Shanghai. Experienced in a wide range of design practices, Shuyi holds a design patent for a set of audio equipment and has worked with companies including Colgate and ZTE. She is also an artist and illustrator, and her drawings have been exhibited widely, including at the Museum of Chinese in America in NYC. Shuyi's thesis, Buying Possibilities: The Double Edge of Blind Box Culture, explores the phenomenon of purchasing an unknown product for a set price and its use in motivating people to try something new.
Website: shuyiwangportfolio.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shuyi-wang-9500b21a7
Regena Paloma Reyes
Regena is a Senior Experience Designer at Proto in New York City. Regena earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Carnegie Mellon University and has over five years of management consulting experience with clients in the financial services and technology industries. Regena earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Carnegie Mellon University and has five years of management consulting experience with clients in the financial services and technology industries. At Products of Design, Regena began exploring how cities, their high population densities, and the expansive interpersonal networks that arise therein can be used to create cultures of preparedness and resilience at individual, interpersonal, and community scales. Her thesis, N-3+Me: Urban Resilience at Human Scale, investigates factors that promote adaptability in city-dwellers during times of crisis.
Website: regenareyes.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/regenareyes
Class Of 2020
Victoria Ayo
Victoria is a Product Designer at Spotify in Stockholm, Sweden. She is the 2021 silver recipient in the New York Design Awards' Better Future - Equity and Inclusion category. After receiving her BS in Computational Media from Georgia Tech, she worked in the tech industry as an experience designer for ThoughtWorks, a consulting company focusing on social and economic justice. In the summer following her first year of graduate studies, Victoria gained experience as an intern at R/GA. After graduating from MFA Products of Design, she worked as an Experience Strategist at RAPP in New York City. Victoria's thesis, Birth Reborn: Using Design to Address Barriers to Equitable Maternal Care for Black Women, aims to give voice and power back to black women and mothers. Her project explores how design can build more awareness, facilitate the integration of ancestral knowledge, leverage the community, and eliminate barriers to equitable birth outcomes.
Website: victoriaayo.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/victoria-ayo-967a1137
Helen Chen
Helen is the Interaction Design Lead in the Office of the Surgeon General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Previously, she was employed as an Experience Designer at R/GA and was a Design Fellow at IDEO CoLab. Helen has also worked on the project management team at Bjarke Ingels Group that designed the Google Campus in Mountain View, California, and was part of the in-house digital media team at SOM. As a graphic and UX designer, she has worked with clients including Vox Media and Crunch Fitness. After her first year at Products of Design, she interned at Arup Foresight, and after graduation, she was a Brand and Experience Designer at The Science Project. Helen earned her BA in Art History and East Asian Studies from Columbia University. Helen’s thesis, Fruiting Bodies: Fungal Futures for Collaborative Survival, explores how new material ecologies and interspecies consciousness can create a paradigm shift in current industrial modes of production and consumption.
Website: helenchen.co
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/helenyinchen
Theodore Scoufis
Ted is a Senior Product and Service Designer at Frontier Design in Washington, DC. Before joining the MFA Products of Design program, Ted served in the United States Army, where he was a team leader in the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. He then attended Columbia University, where he worked as a research assistant for the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, studied coalition-building in the Global War on Terror, and completed his undergraduate degree in Political Science. Ted has also worked for the Warrior-Scholar Project, a non-profit that helps military service members transition to higher education. Ted’s thesis, FireLink: Fighting Fire with Data, won a WantedDesign Conscious Design Award (Best Student Project with Social Impact category). FireLink is an information management ecosystem for firefighters that focuses on the 4:30 minutes between receiving the call from dispatch and arrival on the scene, providing firefighters with real-time insight.
Website: tscodesign.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/theodorescoufis
Pantea Parsa
Pantea is a Senior Product Designer at Backpack Interactive in New York City. Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Pantea completed her Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering at Azad University, Roudehen. After immigrating to the U.S., she worked as a textile artist and a visual merchandiser for companies including Target and Macy’s. Pantea's experiences as a Middle Eastern woman have shaped her identity as a designer, and she uses her design skills to help people who are struggling against injustice. For her thesis, By Choice: Designing the Abortion Journey, Pantea designed a suite of products that address the abortion journey from different lenses—including access, community, activism, and male accountability.
Website: panteaparsa.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pantea-parsa-14abb639
Class Of 2019
Evelyn Cheung
Evie is the Associate Director of Service Design at frog in San Francisco. Previously, she was a Design Strategy Lead at Johnson & Johnson in New York City. Evie has worked across many industries and scales with several Fortune 500 clients—particularly helping large-scale organizations rethink their innovation approach through a user-centered lens. While at MFA Products of Design, she started her own freelance consulting company and was a Creative Strategy Intern at Code and Theory, working on projects with Adidas, Maybelline, and Moncler. After graduating, Evie helped lead teams at Doblin—a part of Deloitte's Applied Design & Innovation arm—where she also co-led a team in reimagining commonly used design & research methodologies and frameworks through an anti-racist lens. Evie’s thesis, Alexa, Help Me Be A Better Human: Redesigning Conversational Artificial Intelligence for Emotional Connection interrogates the status quo of the artificial intelligence (AI) space, and suggests pathways to use intersectional thinking to imagine new applications for the technology.
Website: eviecheung.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eviecheung
Gustav Ole Dyrhauge
Gustav is an Interactive Designer at Apple in San Francisco. He was previously employed as Design Lead at Current Studios in New York City. Born and raised in Denmark, Gustav served in the army as a Royal Life Guard to the Danish royal family before obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in Digital Media and Design at the IT University of Copenhagen. As an undergraduate student, he designed an app collaborating with Volkswagen for both customers and mechanics to identify technical issues with cars. He was also employed by Danish company Maersk Line, for whom he developed and digitized the on-boarding and off-boarding processes of their employees. After learning about food deserts and food insecurity in New York City, Gustav quickly decided to dedicate his thesis, Food Justice: Through the Power of Knowledge Sharing, to food justice and the problem of food insecurity.
Website: gustavdyrhauge.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/gdyrhauge
Rhea Bhandari
Rhea is a Designer at Luminary Labs in New York City. Born and raised in India, Rhea earned her undergraduate degree in design from Goldsmiths, University of London. For her undergraduate thesis project, she designed prosthetic limbs—devices now utilized by BMVSS, the world’s largest institute for prosthetic fitment. Previously, Rhea interned at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as a Design Strategist and was employed as a Design Strategist at NeuroEquilibrium, a company that designs vertigo diagnostic devices, fusing technology, and remote patient diagnoses. Her thesis, Hysterical Women: Designing Experiences to Counter the Current Gaslighting Healthcare System, aims to improve the healthcare experience of women by designing more efficient and empathetic diagnostic and treatment strategies to counteract a patriarchal healthcare system where women face neglect, misdiagnosis, and gaslighting.
Website: rheabhandari.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rheabhandari187
Phuong Anh Nguyen
Phuong Anh is a UX/UI Designer for the Vietnamese Professionals Network in New York City. Born in Moscow and raised in Saigon, Phuong Anh earned her B.S. in Advertising at Boston University, and worked in UX design at Eligraphics, Boston University's AdLab and Potoo LLC, where she studied user behavior. She also interned as a PR specialist for T&A Ogilvy, an advertising/PR agency in Vietnam. Phuong Anh recently interned for New Reality Co. in NYC, where she was part of R/GA’s first VR Artist in Residence Team. Her thesis, Power Play: Designing for Agency and Empathy in Virtual Environments, examines how human cognition and behavior change when we socialize in the virtual space.
Website: anhngp.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/anhngp
Class Of 2018
Smruti Adya
Smruti is a Product and Interaction Designer at TEAGUE in Seattle, Washington. After MFA Products of Design, Smruti was hired by Deloitte Digital as a Product Designer. Since graduating from the National Institute of Design in India, she has designed and developed products—ranging from healthcare to home appliances—at frog design and Future Factory in Mumbai. She also has previous experience designing for Frontier Design and ATLASON and she was a Fellow at the SVA GroundFloor Incubator. Her thesis, entitled UPGRADE: Designing for Access and Acceptability around Limb Loss and Limb Difference, aims to create more open conversations about and with people with LL/D and their acceptance in society, as well as easier access to products and services that improve their quality of life.
Website: smrutiadya.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/smrutiadya
Alexia Cohen
Alexia is a Venezuelan-Belgian-American designer, currently employed at Dalberg where she serves as Senior Designer. Previously, she was a Designer at argodesign in New York City. After graduating from MFA Products of Design, Alexia worked as a freelance design consultant, co-leading the design and production of The Human Account project exhibition for Dalberg Design and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During her graduate studies, she was a TEK-TILE Fellow at the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator where she collaborated with 14 designers and engineers to develop textiles with embedded electronics. Alexia’s thesis DARE + DEFY: A Woman’s Place in the Great Outdoors explores a women’s role in the outdoors, yielding a suite of design offerings that are meant to honor, amplify and celebrate women’s position within this space, ultimately arguing for a more inclusive and diverse outdoors sphere.
Website: alexiacohendesign.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexia-cohen-07540315
Lassor Feasley
Lassor is the CEO of Renewables.org, a digital platform that allows members to buy and sell fractions of solar panels in solar power facilities. Lassor is also a Designer and Creative Strategist at OneOneCreative an innovative branding, strategy, and design agency. Before launching his design career, Lassor worked at ModernMD Urgent Care, a chain of medical clinics in underserved neighborhoods in Brooklyn, which he helped grow from zero to seven locations in a year. He graduated from Brandeis University with degrees in American Studies, Interactive Media, Legal Studies, and Business. As a designer, Lassor has worked with Gehl Studio, IDEO, and Prehype. His thesis, You Are on the Fastest Route: Intentional Community and Responsible Autonomy, examines how self-driving cars might impact American culture and everyday life habits.
Website: Renewables.org
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lassorfeasley
Louis Elwood Leach
Louis is a Designer at LEGO Group in Billund, Denmark. English-born and raised in New Zealand, Louis studied Industrial Design at Victoria University of Wellington and Carnegie Mellon University. Directly after graduation from MFA Products of Design, Louis was hired as a Product and Service Designer at Questtono in New York City. During the summer after his first year of graduate studies, he worked as a UX Design Intern at Microsoft in Seattle. His thesis, entitled Invisible Possessions: Reclaiming Our Relationship With Products in an Augmented Age, explores contemporary material culture and our relationship with products in an age that prioritizes access over ownership.
Website: elwoodleach.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/elwoodleach
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
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
Class Of 2016
Souvik Paul
Souvik is the CEO and Founder of Aurie, where his team is building a patented automated single-user, multi-use, no-touch intermittent urinary catheter system designed to improve health outcomes and quality of life while reducing environmental waste. Aurie was selected to participate in the 2021-2022 cohort of Harvard’s Launch Lab X GEO. Souvik also serves as the Healthcare Solutions Lead for J&J Design in New York City. He graduated from Harvard College in 2011, majoring in Social Studies. Prior to joining Products of Design, he worked as a trader at JP Morgan Chase. Souvik’s thesis, Unbound: Design for Paralysis and Disability, seeks to empower individuals with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D), and to tackle some of shortcomings in treatment paradigms for SCI.
Website: souvikpaul.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/souvik-paul-aurie
Roya Ramezani
Roya is an interdisciplinary and intercultural designer with a background in Physics. She is the Staff Product Designer at SoFi and splits her time between San Francisco and New York City. Previously, Roya was a Design Technologist and Product Manager Lead for JPMorgan Chase & Co, where she worked on products and services to address millennial customers' needs via digital channels and retail branches. She has also worked with Antler, the BBC, Google, and Nest. She completed her Bachelor of Design (BDes) from The York/Sheridan Joint Program in Design (YSDN) in Toronto, where she practiced theoretical, research, and practical aspects of design. Roya's thesis, entitled Exponent: Amplifying the Female Voices in Tech Discourse, attempts to address these issues using product design, service design, and platform design.
Website: royaramezani.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/royaram
Jonathan "Jon" Lung
Jon is an American television personality and industrial designer based in San Francisco. He is currently employed as an Industrial Designer at IDEO, and previously was a co-host on the Discovery Network TV series MythBusters, premiering in November 2017. Jon and his co-host Brian Louden won their hosting duties on the reality television competition series MythBusters: The Search, which aired in January and February 2017. On the show, Jon rapidly designed and built functioning custom devices to test the validity of a wide variety of hypotheses, including a gas-powered sword-swinging rig that accurately mimicked the swing and draw of a human swordsman. Jon's MFA thesis, At the Ready: Preparation for Just About Anything, is an inquiry into "preparedness" in all its forms—from the fancifully speculative, to the soberly real.
Website: jonjuhanlung.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jonathan-lung-131a9867
Panisa Khunprasert
Panisa works as an independent design professional for Blue Ribbon Objects and recently launched her own line called PANISA. She studied Industrial Design at Chulalongkorn University. Inspired by her family’s toy business, many of her projects have focused on children’s learning and playing experience. She has presented her work at Tokyo Designer Week 2014, and has worked as a toy designer and fashion accessories designer for Guidecraft, Blue Ribbon Marketing and Crafactor. Many of her designs have been distributed in trade fairs throughout Europe and Asia. Her thesis, HEREAFTER: Remapping the Landscape of Death and the Way it is Remembered, uses her role as a designer to create products and services that enable us to externalize grief in an empowering and beautiful way.
Website: panisakhunprasert.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/panisa-khunprasert-4189aa120
Class Of 2015
May Sun
May is a Senior Product Designer at Google in New York City. Previously, she was employed as a Product Designer at Marquee, Goldman Sachs' digital marketplace for institutional investors. Passionate about solving business challenges, May designed and built CoFoundersLab. She also volunteers as a mentor at BUILT BY GIRLS, a 1:1 mentorship program that connects young women and non-binary students with professionals who work in tech and are passionate about helping the next generation of industry leaders get their start. May earned her BFA in Industrial Design from China Central Academy of Fine Arts. Before joining MFA Products of Design, May's artwork Her Nature was acquired by the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum for their permanent collection in Beijing, China. May's thesis, Her Sense: Women, Technology and Intervention, is aimed at helping women in the workplace by creating technology that builds confidence.
Website: may-sun.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/may-sun-design
Brandon Washington
Brandon is an Art Director and Designer at the Reed Art Department (formerly known as Staple Design) in New York City. Since graduating from MFA Products of Design, Brandon has enjoyed a productive freelance career, designing for companies such as MKG Experiential Marketing, Mother, and The Future Project. He has been a Scenic Designer for QVC, a Retail Designer for Coach, and a Studio Assistant for Chen Chen and Kai Williams. Brandon earned his Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design Technology from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Brandon's thesis, The Spectacle (an investigation into Guy Debord’s theory of the same name), takes the form of an intervention, aiming to wake people up, expose them to alternative ways of thinking, get them in touch with their desires, and express their true selves.
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/brandoffwashington
Berk Ilhan
Berk Ilhan is a New York-based product and experience designer whose work focuses on bringing humanity, delight, and empathy to technology. His designs have been recognized by over 15 international design awards, including the Red Dot Best of the Best and iF Design Award, and he has been featured on numerous television networks including CNN. As the Director of Innovation and Strategy for 10XBeta, Berk designed many products for company's global clients including KLM, PUMA, NRG, as well as health technology startups such as Inspiren and Myovue. In addition, he co-created a Design Thinking curriculum for Thomas Jefferson University's JeffSolves Incubation Program, and co-directed the program for three years. A native of Turkey, Berk holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial Design from Middle East Technical University, Ankara. His graduate thesis, entitled Uplift: Happiness & Communication in the Context of Cancer, has enjoyed considerable renown.
Website: berkilhan.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/berkilhan
Lucy Knops Park
Lucy is a New York-based Designer and Creative Strategist. She is the Founder of Lucy Park and the Co-Founder of Trouble Makers Inc.—known for their Critter Bitters line of cocktail bitters. Previously, she was the Brand Creative Senior Manager at Mara Hoffman, and the Creative Director of OTEM, a new direct-co-consumer fine jewelry maker. Immediately upon graduating from Products of Design, Lucy was a Strategist at Sub Rosa in NYC. Lucy holds an undergraduate degree in History from New York University. In addition to launching new businesses, she has shown at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair and presented at New York Fashion Week. Her work has been featured online at Core77, Archinect, Food&Wine, and Epicurious. Her thesis, entitled The Void: Finding Value in Nothing, sought to reframe the “role of absence” in people’s daily lives.
Website: lucypark.co
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/lucy-knops-2a412187
Class Of 2014
Rona Binay
Rona is an Art Director at Apple in New York City. Previously, she was a Senior Brand Designer at Medium, and before that, a Senior Graphic Designer in interactive media at 2x4. After graduating from MFA Products of Design, she was a Visual Experience Designer at Local Projects and a Designer at Birsel + Seck. Rona has also interned for Natasha Jen at Pentagram and freelanced for Benjamin Critton Art. Dept., Natalie Jeremijenko, Ana Kraš, Nissan Future Lab, and Adidas Originals. Rona holds a BA in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design from Bilkent University in her native Ankara, Turkey. Her thesis, COEXIST: Mixing With Urban Wildlife, studies the relationship between city and nature through the lens of urban wildlife.
Website: ronabinay.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rona-binay-3700181a
Richard Clarkson
Richard is the Founder and Creative Director at Richard Clarkson Studio, an innovative art and design studio based in Brooklyn whose clients include Google, IBM, Coca-Cola, and Miley Cyrus. During his studies at the Products of Design program, Richard realized and developed a strong passion for physical computing and business management. Utilizing these and other key skillsets, Richard launched his studio with his flagship product, the Smart Cloud. The studio has continued to grow, reaching international buyers and press with ever-evolving projects and products. Richard's thesis, entitled Super. Moments of Remarkable, was presented in May 2014.
Website: richardclarkson.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/clarksonrichard
Mansi Gupta
Mansi is the Founder and Design Strategist at Unconform Studio—a design research firm focused on making design for women mainstream. Originally from the industrial city of Kanpur in North India, where she grew up around leather manufacturing facilities, Mansi is also the Co-Founder of TRMTAB, a collection of upcycled leather goods made from manufacturing material waste. Mansi studied Economics and Computer Science at Bryn Mawr and has long been interested in the role of design across various industries. After graduating from Products of Design, she spent several years as a behavioral designer at FinalMile Consulting and product developer at Prachi Leathers in her native India. Mansi's thesis, titled BETTER: The Prejudices & Practices of Mass Production, began with the goal to bring sustainability to the larger fashion system.
Website: mansigupta.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mansigupta
Kathryn Marinaro
Kathryn is the Creative Director at Argodesign in Austin, where she makes user-centric solutions for both physical and digital products. She is also a Lecturer at the Center for Integrated Design, University of Texas. Immediately following her graduation from Products of Design, she spent three years as Design Lead and UX Designer for IBM. Passionate about near-future technology, artificial intelligence, design strategy, and smart objects, Kathryn is the author of Prototyping for Designers, published by O'Reilly Media, and regularly speaks about prototyping, design thinking, and user experience design. Her thesis, entitled Presence: How to Use Digital Technology to Live a More Analog Life, explores approaches to limiting the distraction caused by modern information technology.
Website: kathrynmarinaro.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/kathrynmarinaro