Melissa Dawson Headshot

Melissa Dawson

Assistant Professor
School of Design
College of Art and Design
mdmfaa@rit.edu
585-475-5647
Office Location
GAN-2284

Melissa Dawson

Assistant Professor
School of Design
College of Art and Design

Education

BS, Cornell University; MS, Philadelphia University

Bio

Melissa Dawson is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY USA, who earned a BS in Textiles & Apparel at Cornell University and a MS in Textile Design at Philadelphia University. Melissa has spent both her professional design and academic careers espousing the technological complexities of successful soft product design. Over the last several years, Melissa has used her experience to successfully integrate formal soft goods product design courses into RIT’s internationally-ranked Industrial Design undergraduate and graduate programs through the creation of RIT Soft Studio. Melissa’s scholarship interests include RIT Soft Studio’s Abracemos lo Nuestro Project, which empowers traditional Paraguayan textile artisans with design strategies to encourage innovation in new product applications. Melissa is also a Fulbright Specialist and working on her PhD in Textile Science & Engineering.

mdmfaa@rit.edu
585-475-5647
Personal Links
Google Scholar
LinkedIn
Areas of Expertise
Industrial Design
Product and Service Design

Currently Teaching

IDDE-799
Industrial Design Independent Study
1 - 6 Credits
Industrial Design Independent Study provides students the means to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. With the assistance of their faculty advisers, students will propose a course of study. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. **NOTE: Student must have a minimum 3.0 GPA **
IDDE-672
Graduate ID Studio II
3 Credits
This is the second part of a two-course series that provides opportunities for fine tuning of design process and development of meaningful solutions across multiple scenarios. Projects and assignments will expand on the application of design methods and collaboration. Course content will integrate current and emerging technologies that influence design practice as well as society and culture. A strong focus will be on the testing and implementation of design solutions in effective ways.
IDDE-301
Junior ID Studio I
4 Credits
Students will explore the benefits and challenges of working with a design team to address a complex product, problem, or system. Students will explore group dynamics, creativity in design teams, as well as the nature of complex problems and the various methods required to solve them.
IDDE-599
Industrial Design Independent Study
1 - 6 Credits
Industrial Design Independent Study provides students the means to study in a specialized area with an individual faculty member. With the assistance of their faculty advisers, students will propose a course of study. Students must obtain permission of an instructor and complete the Independent Study Permission Form to enroll. A 3.0 or higher GPA required.
IDDE-502
Senior ID Studio II
4 Credits
Senior ID Studio II applies design methods and skills to advanced level projects addressing users with unique, non-traditional needs requiring multi-disciplinary collaborations. Project development will emulate processes used in professional industrial design practice.
IDDE-501
Senior ID Studio I
4 Credits
This course will explore the application of design methods and skills to projects addressing large-community and global problems requiring team-based, trans-disciplinary collaborations.

In the News

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Featured Work

2019 Senior Soft Studio II: Pet Product Design

2019 Senior Soft Studio II: Pet Product Design

Senior Industrial Design Students

Senior ID students were challenged to design a collection of pet products for a specific animal category of their choosing. Animal behaviors, various life stage needs, and species/breed considerations...

View More about 2019 Senior Soft Studio II: Pet Product Design
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Select Scholarship

External Scholarly Fellowships/National Review Committee
1/1/2021 -12/31/2025
     Fulbright Specialist Program
     Amount: 0
Published Conference Proceedings
Esteche, Andrea Gonzalez and Melissa Dawson. "Abracemos lo Nuestro: Encouraging New Ideation with Traditional Paraguayan Textiles." Proceedings of the Cumulus Conference: The Design After, held October 30 – November 1, 2019 in Bogotá, Colombia. Ed. Hernando Barragán and Claudia Mejía. Bogotá, Colombia: Cumulus International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media, 2019. Web.
Dawson, Melissa. "UnWasted Possibilities: An Exploration in Product Design Using Felt Offcuts." Proceedings of the NETInc Conference 2019, held May 5-8, 2019 in Indianapolis, IN USA. Ed. PaperCon 2019. Indianapolis, IN: TAPPI Press, 2019. Web.
Dawson, Melissa and Mary Golden. "Abracito: Designing Skin-to-Skin Incubation Garments for Preemies & Micro Preemies." Proceedings of the 2019 International Textiles and Apparel Annual Conference. Ed. ITAA. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Library Digital Press, 2019. Web.
Rivera, Michael L., et al. "Stretching the Bounds of 3D Printing with Embedded Textiles." Proceedings of the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Denver, CO, May 6-11, 2017. Ed. General Chairs: Gloria Mark, Susan Fussell. Denver, Colorado: ACM New York, NY, USA, Web.
Shows/Exhibits/Installations
Studio, RIT Soft. Soft Studio at NYC Design Week. By Melissa Dawson and Josh Owen. May 2018. WantedDesign IC, Brooklyn, NY. Exhibit.