Sustainable Design

Alex Lobos standing in a halway.

Good sustainable design benefits individuals and society without compromising the environment. The key is to think of solutions as much as the consequences.”

Alex Lobos

Professor
Graduate Program Director
Industrial Design

Faculty Spotlight

A stool design set against a yellow background.

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, 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 also explored the future of learning as a visiting fellow for 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.

In the making of the pictured stool, Lobos used generative design and Voronoi patterns to reduce the amount of material while also increasing strength. The result was an efficient design with an intricate appearance similar to those found in nature.

Course Spotlights

Two students show their concept to a Milwaukee Tool rep.

RIT’s Packaging Systems course is a collaborative experience involving students from the Graphic Design, Industrial Design and Packaging Science programs. Interdisciplinary teams partner with an industry partner to design new packaging that addresses user issues with one of the company's products. Sustainable elements are incorporated into all of the designs. Past course collaborators include Milwaukee Tool, Kraft Foods, Unilever, Wegmans and more. 

“The students recognize that each discipline brings a different skill set to this kind of project," said Dan Harel, adjunct faculty in Industrial Design who leads the course with Professor Lorrie Frear (Graphic Design) and Professor Karen Proctor (Packaging Science). "One student commented this was like getting three classes in one. This collaborative style, this experience, this is exactly what industry wants."

Two containers of milk with special labels on them with QR codes.

Industrial Design BFA students envisioned ways to make food waste more sustainable in the apple and dairy industries for the 2021 International Biodesign Challenge. Team projects were created in inaugural industrial design junior studio courses led by Adjunct Faculty Lorianne Resch and Associate Professor Amos Scully

The Biodesign Challenge is an international competition and educational program that partners high school and university students with expert artists, designers and scientists to develop creative solutions that leverage biodesign — an emerging movement that bridges art, design and biology to reimagine a more sustainable and equitable future. 

One the RIT projects was ultimately selected for submission to the Biodesign Challenge: “Spoil Me,” a system that mitigates post-consumer milk waste by providing an online compendium of recipes using and alternative applications for spoiled milk that might otherwise be discarded. The project was runner-up for one of the competition’s sponsored awards, the Barilla Prize for Regenerative Living Ecosystems.

Pictured: a screenshot from a video for "Spoil Me," designed by Lauren DiWilliams, Kiley Gallant, Jack McDowall and Julia Stam

Key Faculty and Staff

Alex Lobos
School Director
585-475-7417
Mindy Magyar
Associate Professor