Professor of Sport's Product Design & Product Design, University of Oregon College of Design
Rachael Volker is a designer and educator with a deep passion for improving equity in education. She has served as an advisor and educator in both traditional academia and non-profit organizations alike. In addition to her work in education, she has been a practitioner of Industrial Design for over 15 years with work featured at shows like NYFW, NeoCon, and numerous publications.
Rachael’s interdisciplinary experience and work across product categories has fueled her approach to design education. She is a champion of agile methodologies with a focus on immersive research, creative experimentation, and active innovation.
Her career got an early start in Brooklyn, NY at Pratt Institute, where she studied industrial design and discovered her passion for teaching. Her practice has taken her across the globe having spent most of her time working for design consultancies like Ziba and Cinco in recent years she has traveled to 23 countries to conduct immersive research, run workshops, and give lectures.
“I believe good design is culturally informed. As designers, we have the opportunity to shape the lived experience. Good design is driven by human insight and aims not only to benefit ‘end-users’ but the communities that surround them.”
Now teaching at the University of Oregon, Rachael’s research focuses on design ethics where she teaches courses like Adaptive Design, Human-Centered Collaborative Research, and Material Methods. “My goal as an educator is to foster an environment of responsible and inventive design. When we create space for community, research, and experimentation, we inspire curiosity and create truly collaborative design experiences.
Statement of Candidacy
Fellow designers and educators, I am truly honored to run for Education Director. My short-term goals are to further bridge education and industry practice, create space for new emerging disciplines, and increase opportunities for educational engagement overall. The field of ‘industrial design’ is expanding for the better. We have an opportunity to further define emerging practices like design research, design inclusivity, experience design, etc., through the lens of Industrial Design.
Within this role, I plan to leverage the voices with-in the council and community to bring more opportunities for practitioners and educators to collaborate. By facilitating more overlap across industry and education, we can continue to foster diversity of thought, deepen member relationships, and create natural opportunities for authentic mentorship.
As our technology revolution continues, so many industrial designers are leaning into sub disciplines focusing on new specialties like never before. As an educator I’ve witnessed students experience this magical moment where they learn that ‘service design’, ‘front-end innovation’, or ‘accessibility designer’ etc. are potential career paths that industrial designers can take post-graduation.
This exposure often provides a moment of clarity and transformation where young designers now see an authentic path for themselves in a field they previously feared might not make room for them.
Industrial design is an umbrella that encompasses so many facets, but at our core, we are undoubtedly connected by our passion for problem-solving. As leaders in industrial design, we have the unique opportunity to formalize how these emerging disciplines complement our core practice. In this role I invite the community to create language, contribute frameworks, and share practices.
We all have something to teach, and we all have something to learn. I will work to give voice to professionals and faculty who are eager to collaborate more in an aim to evolve our practice, shape the future of industrial design, and better prepare students for industry.
