The University of Waikato is establishing a new School of Design and has appointed global leader in creative and industrial design, Dr Ricardo Sosa, to lead it.
Dr Sosa joins the University in July from the University of Sydney where he is Program Director at the Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning.
Dr Ricardo Sosa.
As Professor of Creative Design, Dr Sosa will lead the creation of a new, transdisciplinary School of Design that sits cohesively across the areas where design is taught across the University, championing new, innovative and creative components to the design curriculum and developing strategies to grow the programme and its profile.
Dr Sosa has extensive experience across design practice, education and research and has spent his career leading innovative initiatives including new design programmes, research labs, and partnerships with industry and local communities.
Dr Sosa says: “I’m excited to work alongside the Waikato community to build on the outstanding work of the design group. I look forward to establishing an innovative Design School as a collaborative space to elevate interdisciplinary education, research and professional practice.”
With a background in industrial design, he holds a Bachelor of Design (Hons) from Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico, and a PhD from the University of Sydney.
His career began in the areas of participatory design with Indigenous communities in Mexico, and the design of interactive learning systems. He has also held roles at Monash University, Auckland University of Technology, Singapore University of Technology and Design, and in the private sector.
Dr Sosa’s research interests include the future of design education, creativity in co-design, computational simulations of learning, Indigenous and decolonial design, and design research methodologies. He is currently an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation and an Editorial Board member of She Ji - the Journal of Design, Economics and Innovation, and the Journal of Design Research.
