Cumulus Plus Grantees

Dr. Smriti Saraswat is trained as an architect and interior designer. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Planning, and a joint faculty member in the Department of Design, at IIT Roorkee. She was awarded with a Letter of Merit for academic excellence in Master of Interior Architecture and Design, from the CEPT University, Ahmedabad. Her Ph.D. (completed at IIT Roorkee) is an attempt to explore and investigate material culture, traditional architecture and building crafts of the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in India, with a focus on community-based knowledge systems.

She has received research grants from Indian Ministries of Education, Culture, Tourism, Housing and Urban Affairs; National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development; DAAD and BMBF Germany. She has a work experience of fifteen years, combining research, teaching and consultancy. She loves to travel; document; read; create photo essays; collaborate; and tell stories.

Mashal Junaid is Lecturer and Thesis Supervisor at the prestigious School of Fine Arts, Design, and Architecture (SFADA) within GIFT University, located in Gujranwala, Pakistan. She holds bachelor’s degree in Fashion and Textile Design and currently pursuits a MPhil in Arts and Design by gathering insights into students’ preferences and behaviors in the realm of fashion education.

She was engaged in several collaborative projects, including co-teaching fashion forecasting in collaboration with Polimoda and the presentation of a fashion collection at Runway Dubai. Mashal is also a skillful contributor to the organization of workshops, thesis displays and exhibitions.

Professor Javier Lorca is a Designer, graduated in the P. Universidad Católica de Chile and Master in Product Design from the UPC-BCN, Catalunya Esp., currently being Assistant Professor at the University of Talca – Chile. His work is concentrated in Final Degree Project Workshops, with 4th and 5th year students and the Thesis work and the Final Project, having guided more than 250 student projects. His work area focus on the application of Systemic methodologies, as a tool for the detection and analysis of Design opportunities, as well as the addition of value in agribusiness.

For the development of projects, he coordinates various short series techniques with rapid production technologies supported by CAD-CAM systems.

Currently, Professor Lorca is studying a PhD in Law, Economics and Business at the University of Girona, in which he investigates how you can effectively connect entrepreneurs with design service providers.

Benjamin Ebo Amissah is a Design educator and enthusiast from Ghana. At
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, he earned both a Bachelor of Arts with honors and a Master of Philosophy in Communication Design. He has four years of professional experience as a senior graphic designer in the industry. In Ghana, West Africa, he is currently an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba and a PhD
candidate at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. Branding, Packaging Design, Interactive Design, and Cultural Identity are his areas of interest and research. Benjamin is a formidable force in his workplace, using his optimistic outlook and boundless energy to inspire people to work hard and achieve success.

Dr. Muhammad Hussnain Sethi is an Assistant Professor and Head of the School of Fine Arts, Design, and Architecture at GIFT University, Gujranwala Pakistan. He is the first Pakistani to hold a doctoral degree in fashion design. He pursued his Ph.D. in fashion design from Jiangnan University in China.

From 2017 to 2021, he was at the Fashion Design and Branding Studio of the School of Design at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, China. Before that he received his Master’s degree in fashion design from Wuhan Textile University, where he was awarded a Master’s scholarship for his outstanding undergraduate thesis on a new concept for military camouflage clothing based on owl skin patterns.

After completing his Master’s degree, he returned to Pakistan and joined the National Textile University as a Lecturer and Program Coordinator of the Fashion Design Department. He has extensive experience in academia, research, and the corporate sector, having worked with a variety of Pakistani, Chinese, and international brands.

Joseph holds a BFA in Graphic Design and Masters in Communication Design degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He joined academia in 2016 as an assistant lecturer at Ho Technical University (formerly Ho Polytechnic), where he was involved in teaching various courses in Graphic design and conducting research. In 2020, he was promoted to the rank of a lecturer to teach courses such as Packaging Design, Printing, Advertising, Introduction to Graphic Design, Typography.

His research interest is to extensively explore issues of ethics, standards and practices surrounding Graphic Communication design education and sustainable packaging design practices. He is an active member of Design Institute of Ghana (DesignGhana – a professional body championing design education and practices in Ghana), and a member of the Pan Afrikan Design Institute (PADI) and Ghana Art Teachers Association (GATA).

Liandra holds a National Diploma and BTech in Textile Design & Technology from Tshwane University of Technology as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Development at the University of Stellenbosch.

After a career as a textile designer in one of Africa’s biggest fashion & homeware retailers, Liandra became aware of the vast negative impacts of the fashion and textile industry. She joined the social movement organisation Fashion Revolution, from a volunteer to becoming a director of the South African office. She has been educating and lobbying towards a just transition. While studying, she had the opportunity to explore a variety of topics pertaining to the complex dynamics of planning for just and equitable futures in South Africa, Africa and beyond. Finally, she narrowed her focus and energy to the field of creative education as a pivotal leverage point for change. She believes that education can be a tool for empowerment and transgression of the normative behaviors of societies that fail to serve the most vulnerable members of our collective social systems.

MF Noori is the international fashion designer, fashion choreographer & fashion academic professional. He got a 4-year BA(Hon’s) fashion design degree from Le Ecole La Chambre de Syndicale Paris, France in care of (PIFD) Pakistan Institute of Fashion and M.Phil. in Management Sciences (specialized in Fashion Marketing) from GIFT University, Pakistan. Since December 2007 he is working as an Assistant Professor at the fashion design faculty and thesis supervisor in SFADA School of Fine Art, Design & Architecture of GIFT University.

José Ignacio López Ramírez Gastón holds a PhD in Computer Music from the University of California San Diego (UCSD) where he studied under the supervision of Miller Puckette.

Natacha Poggio is a social impact educator, TEDx speaker, and advocate of design for social change.

Ralitsa is a design researcher affiliated with the Design Research Activity Workgroup network (DRAWn) – Afrika at KNUST and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), South Africa.

Dr. Noha Essam is a Design Educator, Interior Architect, Interdisciplinary Designer, Creative Trend Consultant, Futurist and a certified Environmental Psychologist.

Schalk is a design educator interested in philosophy, art and design, and design education, completing doctoral studies on a new epistemology of design.

Kenan Zekic is a design educator and multidisciplinary designer particularly interested in social impact design. In recent years Kenan’s academic and professional focus is set on design and technology relationships and practices in underdeveloped regions.

Andréia De Bernardi is a Brazilian art-educator who works at the intersections of art, cultural heritage, and design. Doctoral student working at the Social Design Integrated Center (CIDS);

Samuel Kwame’s research interests focus on Rhinoceros 3D, Computer Aided Learning, Idea development from nature, illustrated cartoons.

In her work, Biljana Jovic deals with geometry, graphics, new technologies, and interventions in space. She combines the approach of landscape architects as well as engineers and an artistic approach to geometric principles to find beauty and expression.

Edward Appiah is committed to the philosophy and practice of sustainable, socially responsive (and responsible) design and recognizes its potential in promoting equity and quality of life in Africa and beyond.

Sofía Alamo is a teaching researcher in new media and digital culture at the School of Communication Studies and Multimedia Design (Maimónides University) and a teaching assistant at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

Aditi Deshpande is a passionate architect and designer; she has worked on projects with a variety of typologies though her love is residential and interior architecture. She has been a design practitioner for the past 20 years and has a rich experience of over 12 years in teaching architecture and design.

Gordana Vrencoska is an interdisciplinary artist, designer and educator. Vrencoska is one of the founding members of the Faculty of Art & Design at the European University in Skopje, R. of Macedonia and serves as its Vice Dean for academic affairs since 2011.

Dhafer Ben Khalifa is a teacher, designer and founder of ’Collective Creatif’ association aimed at promoting culture through creative industries. He tries to contribute to the promotion of Tunisian Design through his coaching activity as a university assistant, and through his personal work and various collaborations with international funders.

Pablo Bercovich is an Argentine specialist in strategic design management for the industry. Designer, Professor and Researcher of the Buenos Aires’ University. General Coordinator of the National Plan of Design of the Ministry of Production of the Argentine Nation.