IxD Faculty Position

IxD Faculty Position.pdf

The School

Carnegie Mellon’s School of Design is one of the oldest design programs in the United States, offering undergraduate, masters and PhD degrees in design. Located in one of the premier research universities in the world, our School is noted for its core degrees in interaction design, communication design, and industrial design, as well as its transdisciplinary masters degrees with the departments of English (Communication, Planning and Information Design) and Engineering (Masters in Product Development) and BHA, BSA and BCSA undergraduate degree programs which enable students to design hybrid majors between Design and the humanities, natural sciences, and computer science.

We believe design is central to constructing a better future. In our teaching and research, we employ design methods that synthesize an understanding of people and technological innovation in order to envision products, services, systems, and environments that meet human needs and desires. In 2009 the School began a re-visioning process that places design for society and the environment at the heart of the program, educating designers as transdisciplinary problem-solvers, and as catalysts for positive change. The School will launch several new master's degree concentrations as well as executive and continuing education programs over the next two years, providing several opportunities to expand its visionary and collaborative faculty.

The Position

We seek a dynamic individual with a balance of interaction design practice and scholarly design research experience to serve our Master’s and PhD students. We will consider specialties including, but not limited to, the following:

• Industrial/Interaction design with a focus on physical and tangible computing, basic electronics, and formgiving
• Information/Interaction design with a focus on designing for web and mobile, information architecture, and social and cloud computing
• Service/Strategic design with expertise in design synthesis, diagramming and blueprinting, facilitation, and fundamental research in service design
• New media/Interaction design with a focus on motion graphics, narrative and storytelling, and audio design
• Strategic design and design planning • Design theory• Domain expertise such as healthcare, eldercare, public policy, or sustainability

A candidate with a strong interaction aesthetic, an orientation to research, and skills in problem framing is sought to teach and conduct research within and outside of the School of Design. We are looking for an individual who pushes current boundaries and explores new territories; thus the ability to forecast, identify and foster new areas of design research, experimentation and innovation is key. The position will involve collaboration with faculty at the School of Design as well as other departments across the University.

Qualifications

We seek a versatile designer with a significant record of professional practice, teaching, research publication, and/or public exhibitions. Candidates should have a Master’s or PhD and professional design practice experience. University-level teaching experience is desirable. Carnegie Mellon University is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunities employer committed to diversity.

Application to Include

Letter of application with design practice, research and teaching philosophies Curriculum Vitae Portfolio of work (see below) Contact information, including phone numbers for 3 references (No recommendation letters are required at this time)

Work Samples

Please provide a PDF containing up to 20 standard-size pages of visual and written documentation of your work. This PDF may also serve as a guide to additional online, interactive and/or video materials. Provide the URL of your web site and your Twitter handle, if applicable. Sites will be viewed on Safari/Mac OSX with standard installations of Java and Flash. Include instructions for viewing select interactive projects, if applicable.

Up to 10 minutes of time-based work may be submitted on DVD-R, or in a web page with embedded video streams from e.g. Vimeo or YouTube. Include samples of published research. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return of your materials.

Submit your application via email to:

John Zimmerman, johnz@cs.cmu.edu

When sending email, please us the following subject: School of Design IxD Search

Or mail to:

Attn: John Zimmerman

IxD Faculty Search

School of Design, MMCH-110

Carnegie Mellon University

5000 Forbes Avenue

Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890

Application Deadline

December 6, 2010, or until position is filled.