Assistant or Associate, Master of Arts in Design Engineering (MADE) and Industrial Design

The Department of Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) invites applications for a full-time faculty appointment at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor, to commence in fall 2027. Rank will be dependent on professional status and teaching experience.

RISD recognizes principles of social equity, inclusion, and diversity as fundamental to its mission as an art and design school. These principles require sustained attention to a multiplicity of differences and call for an expansion of the forms of knowledge that shape our curricula and pedagogy. RISD is committed to the collective work of institutional transformation and values applicants whose teaching, pedagogical and professional experiences have prepared them to foster and sustain equitable learning environments. We especially welcome faculty whose pedagogy engages diverse perspectives, expands forms of knowledge, and helps foster a culture of belonging where all students, staff, and faculty can thrive.

We invite applications for a full-time faculty position in the Industrial Design Department with a focus on the Master of Arts in Design Engineering (MADE), a joint graduate program offered in collaboration with Brown University’s School of Engineering. Applicants should expect to serve a minimum of one 3-year term as Graduate Program Director, the primary academic and administrative contact for MADE from RISD.

The faculty member will work across the Brown Engineering and RISD Industrial Design communities and with industry partners to bring contemporary design challenges into the studio. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable in a boardroom, a workshop, and a classroom, and understands that meaningful innovation often happens where disciplines meet.

We seek candidates who are accomplished designers, have a clear and compelling research agenda – as evidenced through their creative, scholarly or professional work – and who share our deep commitment to teaching and design education. Candidates should be able and ready to teach a range of core and advanced coursework. The ideal candidate will demonstrate substantial experience bridging industrial design, technology development, research, and making, whether through industry R&D, technology centers, research laboratories, technology companies, independent practice, or comparable environments. Candidates with significant professional practice and advanced technical expertise are encouraged to apply, including those whose primary experience has been outside traditional academic settings.

The faculty member will initially teach primarily in MADE, with responsibilities that will also include undergraduate and graduate courses in the BFA and MID programs in Industrial Design.

Rank (Assistant or Associate) will be determined based on the candidate’s qualifications and experience, with opportunities for promotion through RISD.

About the MADE Program
MADE is an intensive eleven-month graduate program that combines the strengths of RISD and Brown University’s Department of Engineering. It prepares students to merge visionary thinking with pragmatic problem solving, qualitative with quantitative methods, and creative inquiry with technological innovation to produce solutions that improve lives.

At the core of the curriculum is a sequence of interdisciplinary studios in which students investigate real-world challenges through research, experimentation, prototyping, and implementation. Working in collaborative teams, students learn to synthesize diverse perspectives, communicate across disciplines, and turn ideas into products, systems, services, and experiences.

Required Qualifications

A master’s degree in a relevant field of study
3 years of collegiate teaching experience beyond graduate assistantship
Demonstrated commitment to fostering equitable learning environments where a diverse student body can thrive, using inclusive, culturally responsive, and accessible pedagogies to support critical engagement with art and design.
A record of professional practice, research, creative work, or technological innovation.
Professional experience designing and developing products in real manufacturing and business contexts, with an understanding of how design decisions relate to materials, processes, production constraints, cost, market needs, and business objectives.
Experience collaborating on teams to deliver large projects spanning design, engineering, business, marketing, manufacturing, and/or research.
Evidence of Leadership capacity in academic, non-academic, or community environments.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience securing external funding, directing interdisciplinary research, or leading collaborations with industry, government, or nonprofits.
Expertise in one or more of the following: human-centered design; systems design; product design and innovation; computational design; AI and machine learning; robotics and physical computing; digital fabrication and advanced manufacturing; sustainable design and climate technologies; biomaterials and circular economy; interaction design; data visualization; design research; entrepreneurship and commercialization; healthcare innovation; social innovation.
Experience leading interdisciplinary design, engineering, or innovation teams.
Experience taking concepts from ideation through prototyping and development to functional or manufacturable outcomes.
Entrepreneurial or start-up experience, working at the intersection of design and business
Familiarity with design thinking, human-centered design, commercialization, and current challenges such as sustainability, digital transformation, and emerging technologies.

With 13 full-time faculty and 41part-time faculty, the Industrial Design departments runs 110 classes (per year) for 264 BFA candidates, 33 MID candidates, students from the joint Masters of Arts and Design Engineering (MADE) with Brown University, and a limited number of non-major students from across RISD and Brown.
The Industrial Design Department is aligned with Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)’s efforts to shape more just societies, to address sustainability and the climate crisis, and to contribute new knowledge through creative inquiry and practice.

In Industrial Design we believe that designers must be critical makers and critical thinkers. To enable our students to learn, think, and lead, we use material making and material design to gain hands-on design experience; to explore how to apply these processes to new products, services, and systems; and to gain mastery of the mindsets and methods to create new and meaningful innovation. For more about the department visit:

Our alumni go on to become professional and academic leaders in a field that is no longer narrowly focused on the creation of industrial goods. They design the objects, experiences, services and systems that give shape to contemporary life and beyond.

Faculty Responsibilities

The full-time faculty teaching load is five teaching units per year. One teaching unit equals three weekly contact hours for a seminar and five weekly contact hours for a studio. In most departments, this correlates to teaching five courses per year spread across fall, wintersession, and spring semesters. In addition to teaching, faculty are expected to maintain an active professional practice; advise students; participate in curriculum development and college committees; engage in departmental and/or divisional activities and projects; and contribute to the intellectual life of the college.

Teach collaborative graduate design studios within the MADE curriculum, as well as undergraduate and graduate courses in the Industrial Design BFA and MID programs.
Participate in curricular development of MADE that integrates design methods, engineering principles, systems thinking, emerging technologies, and human-centered research.
Mentor students individually and in interdisciplinary teams from research and concept development through prototyping, testing, and implementation.
Advise students on individualized academic pathways and career development.
Collaborate with faculty across RISD and Brown on interdisciplinary teaching, curriculum development, and research.
Build and maintain partnerships with industry, government, nonprofits, and research institutions that enrich student learning and create opportunities for sponsored research and applied projects.
Maintain an active program of research, creative practice, technological innovation, or professional engagement that contributes to design engineering.

For more information apply directly at