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Cumulus Plus Grantees

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Smriti Saraswat, PhD

Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture and Planning Department of Design, IIT Roorkee, India

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.

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Rubab Afzaal

Lecturer and Department Coordinator of the School of Fine Arts, Design, and Architecture at GIFT University, Pakistan

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Mashal Junaid

Lecturer, School of Fine Arts, Design, and Architecture (SFADA) GIFT University, Pakistan

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.

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Javier Lorca Alvarez

Assistant Professor, Escuela de Diseno, Universidad de Talca, Chile

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.

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Joseph Amewu

Lecturer of Graphic Design, Department of Industrial Art Faculty of Art& Design, Ho Technical University (HTU), Ghana

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).

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Liandra van Staden

Programme Co-Ordinator of the BA Degree in Visual Communication the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography, South Africa

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.

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Muhammad Fawad Noori

Assistant Professor & Manager Industry Linkages GIFT University, SFADA - School of Fashion Design, Arts and Architect, Pakistan

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.

Cumulus Plus Grantee

José Ignacio López Ramírez Gastón

Director of Innovation and Technology Transfer, Universidad Nacional de Musica, Lima, Peru

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.

He is currently a lecturer at the Universidad Nacional de Música (ex Conservatorio Nacional de Música), where he is in charge of the music and technology courses, coordinates the Laboratorio de Música Electroacústica y Arte Sonoro and is Director de Innovación y Transferencia Tecnológica. He also lectures on Sound Arts and Popular Music at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 2019 he published the book La Guardia Nueva, Visiones Sobre la Música Electrónica en el Perú.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Natacha Poggio

Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, University of Houston Downtown (uhd.edu), USA

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

In her teaching at the University of Houston-Downtown, she concentrates on the role nature plays in our lives and encourages students to find solutions that will inspire positive change in society. She is the founding director of Design Global Change (2008), a creative collaborative designing planet-centered solutions to address global health, environmental, and social justice problems. She has over two decades of professional practice, and her work has reached hundreds of communities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, garnering recognition as a two-time recipient of the Sappi “Ideas that Matter” award. Since 2011, she has been on the Winterhouse Institute Advisory Council (working on the teaching and practice of social innovation in higher education). When not teaching, Natacha is judging competitions; contributing to books and publications on social design, global health, and sustainability; and volunteering for AIGA –the professional association of design. Natacha earned a B.F.A. in Graphic Design from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and an M.F.A. in Experience Design from The University of Texas at Austin, United States. She is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina but considers herself a citizen of the world.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Ralitsa Diana Debrah

Designer, Educator and Researcher Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, West Africa

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.

Learn more about Ralitsa in her Linkedin profile here.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Noha Essam, PhD

Assistant Professor Interior Architecture and Interdisciplinary Design German University of Cairo, Egypt

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

Learn more about Noha in her Linkedin profile here.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Schalk van Staden

Acting Section Head: Department of Visual Communication, and Lecturer, Integrated Communication Design Tshwane University of Technology, Johannesburg, South Africa

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

Learn more about Schalk in his Linkedin profile here.

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Please note the program was paused in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 Pandemic and the postponement of Cumulus Conferences.

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Kenan Zekic

Head of Department, associated professor, Faculty of Art and Social Sciences, International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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.

Since 2017, he is a local leader of the IxDA Interaction Design Association Chapter in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Dr. Venny Nakazibwe

Deputy Principal, College of Engineering Design Art and Technology, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Andreia Menezes De Bernardi

Doctoral student in design and professor, State University Minas Gerais (UEMG), Design School, Brazil

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);

her current interests consist of deep mapping, art education, creative economy, cultural heritage and social museology.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Samuel Kwame

Head of Printing and Photography, lecturer in Graphic Design Department, Ho Technical University, Ghana

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

He is a member of Ghana Art Teachers Association (GATA), Design Ghana (DG) and Pan Afrikan Design Institute (PADI).

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Biljana Jovic, PhD, MSc, Dipl.eng.

Deputy Chair, Head of Master Studies, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, University of Belgrade, Serbia

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.

A member of the Serbian Association for Geometry and Graphics (SUGIG) and the International Association for Geometry and Graphics (International Society for Geometry and Graphics – ISGG).

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Edward Appiah DTD

Coordinator in Research and Postgraduate Studies Department of Communication Design, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

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.

His research area of expertise: Design Education, Technology in Education and Design for Social Innovation. He represents the Pan Afrikan Design Institute.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Sofía Alamo

Profesora Investigadora, Escuela de Comunicación y Diseño Multimedial, Universidad Maimónides, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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).

Fields of interest: social uses of technologies, digital methods in multimedia and social research, and university teaching based on transmedia game-designed learning projects.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Polise Moreira De Marchi, PhD

Associate Professor Department of Digital Design, University Center Senac – Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Aditi Deshpande

Associate Professor, Dept. of Industrial Design, In-Charge, International Cell, SID Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune, India

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.

She is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Design and the In-charge of International cell with Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune, India.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Gordana Vrencoska, PhD

Associate Professor, Vice Dean, Faculty of Art and Design European University, Republic of Macedonia

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.

She teaches Design Methodology, Methodology of Research, Visual Communication, Design Concept and Fashion Design Basics, among others. She was an artistic director, mentor and curator for numerous exhibitions and projects. She has had 13 solo shows and has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Macedonia, Poland, UK, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Austria, US, China, and other countries.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Dhafer Ben Khalifa

Assistant Lecturer, ISM (Institut Suéprieur de la mode), University of Monastir, Tunisi

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.

His work is based on the renewal of the artisanal activity by creative centered approach and the emancipation of the semantic clichés.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Pablo Bercovich

Coordinador General, Plan Nacional de Diseño, Secretaría de Industria y Servicios, Ministerio de Producción de la Nación, Buenos Aires’ University, Argentina

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.

It is dedicated to the planning of public policies of design for development of the national industry, for innovation and productive transformation. He is currently writing his thesis of expertise on the quantitative and qualitative impact of insertion of innovation and design tools in the productive SMEs.

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Cumulus Plus Grantee

Dr Patrique de Graft-Yankson

Acting Head, Department of Graphic Design, University of Education, Winneba, Winneba, Ghana

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Yassaman Khodadadeh, PhD

Associate Professor, Head of Department of Industrial Design & Visual Communications, Head of Students Affair, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Kish Island, Iran

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Patrick Sserunjogi

Assistant Lecturer, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Johnson Kwame Wor

Lecturer, Department of Graphic Design Technology, Takoradi Technical University, Ghana

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Maya Koyava – Kipiani

Head of Foreign Affairs Department, Tbilisi State Academy of Art, Georgia

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Guillerma L. Mendoza, MBA

Assistant Professor, College of Fine Arts and Design, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Ezrena Marwan

Academic Staff, Faculty of Design and Built Environment, the First City University College, Malaysia

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Collins Makunda

Lecturer Design theory, School of the Arts and Design, University of Nairobi, Kenya

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Jamal Jamaludin

Lecturer Interior Design, Faculty of Visual Art and Design, Institut Teknologi Nasional (Itenas) Bandung, Indonesia

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Imran Mahmood

Associate Professor and Course Coordinator, Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design, Lahore, Pakistan

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Benjamin Amissah

Assistant Lecturer, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

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.

Cumulus Plus Grantee

Muhammad Hussnain Sethi, PhD

Assistant Professor and Head of School of Fine Arts, Design and Architecture, GIFT University, Pakistan

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.

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