(L-R): Carlos Montana, Raffi Tchakerian, Hani Asfour, Sass Brown, Sayjel Patel, and Mirko Daneluzzo

Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation (DIDI), has appointed Carlos Montana, Mirko Daneluzzo, Raffi Tchakerian, and Sayjel Vijay Patel and as part of its faculty ahead of opening this September.

The appointed faculty brings the best in global design to Dubai, originating from all four corners of the world. The professors have experience working in design hubs such as Canada, Italy, Australia, Singapore, and Beirut. They join Dean, Sass Brown, and associate dean, Hani Asfour, as the founding faculty of DIDI who will welcome the first cohort of students in fall of this year.

Sass Brown, dean of DIDI, comments: “At DIDI we have promised to nurture the change makers of the future, which means we need the best and most forward-thinking faculty in the world. The faculty we have appointed ahead of DIDI’s inaugural year have incomparable experience and their vision and belief in cross-disciplinary education make them the perfect fit for DIDI.”

Mirko Daneluzzo – Cross Disciplinary Design
Mirko Daneluzzo is an architect and co-founder and chief design officer of Nyxo ltd. He has taught computational design and design laboratory at the Academy of Applied Arts, LABA and industrial design in Rimini.

Sayjel Vijay Patel – Design and Technology
An architectural designer, researcher, and lecturer, Sayjel Vijay Patel joins DIDI as Design and Technology faculty. He is also a principal investigator with the SUTD Digital Manufacturing & Design Centre and has led ‘The 3D Sampling Project’, an initiative that explores new design and fabrication processes and combines mobile 3D scanning and advanced additive manufacturing.

Carlos Montana – Interdisciplinary Design
Carlos Montana is an award-winning industrial designer and educator and joins DIDI as Interdisciplinary Design Faculty. His interest in multidisciplinary and cross-cultural approaches to design has seen him work in the health and sports, biomimicry and sustainability fields.

Raffi Tchakerian – Industrial Aerospace Design
Raffi Tchakerian joins DIDI as Cross-Disciplinary Faculty and has experience in a vast range of design fields including aerospace, aviation, medicine, humanitarian design, product design, interactive design, and robotics.