Industry Sponsored Research

Alex Lobos, professor and graduate program director of the MFA in Industrial Design, focuses on sustainability, emotional attachment and user-centered design as means to elevate quality of life. His research in computer-aided design, interdisciplinary education, sustainability and emotional design has been sponsored by companies such as Autodesk, Autodesk, AT&T, Colgate-Palmolive, General Electric, Kraft, MakerBot, Staples, Stryker, Sun Products, Unilever and Wegmans.

A flourishing research and design partnership between RIT and Autodesk was initially spearheaded by Lobos, who explores the future of learning as a visiting fellow at the software company and is an advisory council member for Autodesk University. RIT and Autodesk’s agreement has opened professional doors for RIT students and resulted in them being provided exclusive access to alpha and beta versions of the company’s software, breakthrough effective access technology solutions and job hires. 

“Connections with industry are beneficial at so many levels,” Lobos said. “You get to bring to the classroom needs, skills and technologies that are happening right now, and a lot of those opportunities can lead to career opportunities for our students.”

Prior to RIT, Lobos, born in Guatemala, was an industrial designer at General Electric.

Photo by A. Sue Weisler