Megan Strickfaden is an Assistant Professor in material culture and design studies in the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta. She began her studies on design practice combined with anthropology towards understanding people-centered design and sustainability in the domain of industrial/engineering design (Canada). Prior to embarking on post-graduate research, she worked for 12 years as a product designer with various design firms, notably Innovate Design Inc. (Canada). Strickfaden obtained her PhD in Humanities & Social Sciences from Napier University (UK) with a study investigating potential sociocultural influences on the design process and the cultural milieu of design teaching environments.
Most recently, Strickfaden is working on two projects: Exploring the Cultural Capital of Design Educators (2006-2009) as primary investigator and Architectural design in Dialogue with dis-Ability as co-investigator with Ann Heylighen and Patrick Develieger. Strickfaden’s current research combines design studies and anthropology towards understanding complexities within design environments (educational and professional) with continued focus on exploring sociocultural factors that potentially influence the designing process.
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