Design for Sustainability

1998

Chair of industrial design department, SCAD, 1998-2005; freelance industrial design consultant; product development research assistant, University of Calgary; director of digital animation and video editing, 30 Cuadros C.A., Venezuela

Named one of the 25 "Most Admired Educators in America" by DesignIntelligence in 2011

Featured in Business Report's "40 under 40" and I.D. magazine's "40 Best Designers Under 30"

IDSA

• Presented at the Event Design Conference, New York City, May 2007
• Presented fully functional street legal prototype of a concept car, EXO Spyder, at several nationally recognized car shows, 1999
• Juror for the "International Competition for Student Artists," March 1999
• Exhibited two designs - battery charger and multi-communicational remote control - at University of Calgary environmental design department's industrial design gallery show, October 1996
• Published paper about societal consequences of the Internet in University of Calgary environmental design department's product and technology assessment annual report, June 1996
• Presented design of communicational device for high-risk jobs at industrial design exhibition, Columbus, Ohio, June 1996

"SCAD's unique student-centered environment fosters innovation, intellectual wonder and critical problem-solving, motivating me to always challenge myself to do my best."

• IDUS 320 Design for Emergent Markets
• IDUS 321 Industrial Design in the Marketplace
• IDUS 387 Marketing and Industrial Design
• IDUS 421 Commercial Practices for Industrial Design
• IDUS 431 Industrial Design Senior Studio
• IDUS 713 Industrial Design Studio I
• IDUS 718 Industrial Design Studio II
• IDUS 733 Entrepreneurship for Designers
• SDES 490 Collaborative Experiences

2010

Studied architecture, product design, industrial design and specialized in sustainable and eco-design; worked as environmental scientist at Wuppertal Institute for Climate Environment and Energy; started econcept, an agency for sustainable design, in 1996 in Germany; taught at several different universities and design schools all over the world, including Zurich University of the Arts and Design Academy Eindhoven; conducted teaching and training for companies in Australia, Asia, South America and Europe

Leading thinker in the field of eco-design and design for sustainability with numerous publications, keynote presentations, research projects and consulting work

"Tribun," eco-efficient cardboard lamp, exhibit, Design Arena, Light Competition, Industrie Forum Design Hannover; "macpac," eco-efficient fast food packaging, Gustav-Dieter-Edelhoff Award for disposal-oriented design, exhibition at Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, Germany; "Senda," remote control for elderly and other people, exhibit, "Age: No Problem," Danish Design Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark; "FRIA," eco-efficient cooling concept for households, Bavarian Competition for young designers, exhibition at Nuremberg and Bayreuth, Germant; "How to Communicate Sustainability," award of the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, second prize for leaflet and poster campaign, no first prize awarded

Expert at International Organization Standardization (ISO) TC 207 sub-committee meetings on "Design for Environment," member of ISO working group "Design for Environment" as German delegate, co-author of the ISO TR 14062; member of the DIN/NAGUS AA1 working group on the integration of environmental issues into product development and design; secretary of the EUREKA working group on sustainable products and services; board member of O2 Global, an international network of eco-designers; manager of the German O2 liaison; founding member of "Cologne Design," a regional organization to promote design; board member since 2000; member of various design juries, such as Industrie Forum Design Hannover (IF Ecology Award), Design Sense Award in London, Eco-design Award in Austria, International Design Award in Baden-Württemberg , Germany (Design Center Stuttgart)

Publications

• "System Innovation for Sustainability 3: Case Studies in Sustainable Consumption and Production - Food and Agriculture," Tischner et al., Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, UK, 2010
• "New Business for Old Europe: Product-Service Development, Competitiveness and Sustainability," Tukker and Tischner, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, UK, 2006
• "Sustainable Solutions: Developing Products and Services for the Future," Charter and Tischner, Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, UK, 2001
• "How to do Ecodesign?: A Guide on Environmentally and Economically Sound Design," Tischner et al., form publishing, Frankfort, Germany, 2000
• "Ökointelligentes Produzieren und Konsumieren (Ecointelligent Production and Consumption)," Schmidt-Bleek, F., Tischner, U., Merten, T., Birkhaeuser, Berlin/Basel/Boston, 1997
• "Produktentwicklung: Nutzen gestalten - Natur schonen (Product Development: Create Benefit - Save Nature)," Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, 1995

Presentations
Countless presentations at international and regional conferences and events around the world since 1993

"Design is just a tool like a hammer: You can use it to build a house or to kill people. Since industrialization, design has unfortunately become part of serious problems like over-production and consumption, resource depletion, toxic emissions, climate change, social crises, loss of biodiversity, etc. I like to help designers and other creative professionals to become agents of change, creating solutions that are beneficial for people and the natural environment around us in the short and long run on local and global levels while profitable at the same time."

• SUST 208 Foundation of Sustainable Materials
• SUST 290 Theories in Eco Stewardship
• SUST 384 Design for Sustainability Studio
• SUST 704 Applied Theories in Sustainability
• SUST 708 Principles of Sustainable Materials
• SUST 713 Interdisciplinary Studio I and II

"If you invest energy in creating something, do it wisely and effectively, celebrate diversity of people and nature, respect the limits given to us by our planet, and create joy and quality of life for everybody involved - including yourself. Life is too precious."

econcept.org