Principal Designer, SAYEH.ca
Sayeh Dastgheib-Beheshti, IDSA, the founding Chair of the IDSA Toronto Chapter founded in 2021, has been a strong advocate for Canada’s dynamic design scene within IDSA. Sayeh graduated in 1993 from Art Center College of Design (Europe) in Switzerland and began her career designing a heater for a home appliance manufacturer which has remained in production. She has since worked in diverse industries which include automotive exterior/interior components and aerospace interiors.
As a founder of SAYEH.ca, she has worked on the design and development of scientific measurement products, consumer goods and motion capture systems. From 2008-2022, Sayeh worked with the Standard Deviation LLCs design team, to create custom-built motion capture systems for movies, games, and sports applications. In 2021, Standard Deviation won the Academy Award (Technical Oscar) for their work on a head-mounted camera system. Sayeh is passionate about education and since 2006 has taught courses on computer-aided design, product design, manufacturing and sustainability in several colleges and universities.
In 2017 she completed her Masters in Environmental Studies with a thesis titled “Product Design through a Systemic Lens of Ecological Economics”. She is currently pursuing her PhD at York University’s Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change in Toronto, Canada. Sayeh believes strongly in enriching the design community by mentoring students in the Engineering Strategies and Practices (ESP) program at the University of Toronto, as well as through York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering’s United Nation’s Hack-a-thon engineering challenge. She was also a guest judge for the annual UTEK (University of Toronto Engineering Kompetition).
To fulfill the mandate of establishing local IDSA student chapters, Sayeh facilitated the formation of the IDSA Student Chapter at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada in 2023. In 2022, after Sayeh accepted the invitation to be a judge, IDSA-Toronto Chapter has become a partner of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) in their annual Canada-wide mobility design competition. In June 2021, she co-emceed IDSA’s Sustainability Deep Dive with Kevin Bethune, and that same year she received IDSA’s 20/2X recognition for outstanding volunteer contribution.
Sayeh played a key role in expanding IDSA’s Toronto Chapter.
Statement of Candidacy
I am running for the position of Section Director to focus on closer Section/Chapter collaborations that provide relevant programming for our members.
For the past two years, as the founding chair of a new chapter, I have witnessed the power of programming in connecting and enriching my immediate design community. I know first-hand that designers are surrounded by so much information that finding the time and resources to stay updated on topics of interest often seems like a full-time job in itself. IDSA has a proven track record of creating Deep Dive sessions which offer excellent opportunities for continuing education and professional development. I would like to build on this legacy to create much smaller scale collaborations between experts from our special interest Sections and Chapters that are interested in hosting online or hybrid events. My goal is to create unique, quality programming that is accessible to all IDSA members regardless of geographic location.
Over the span of just two years, our Toronto Chapter has held 14 talks covering topics ranging from design history and innovation to materials and manufacturing. Each of these talks could have been so much richer and reached a far wider community had we collaborated with relevant Sections. I am confident that as a Sections Director, I can cultivate further Section/Chapter collaborations across our community.
I hope that you vote for me as your next Sections Director.
Sayeh Dastgheib-Beheshti, IDSA, is Chair of the IDSA Toronto chapter and Principal and Founder of SAYEH.ca in Toronto, Canada. “This year I have been motivated and inspired by the increased awareness I see around issues of social justice and protecting the environment,” she tells us.
Sayeh’s accomplishments in 2021 are myriad. She began the year with an online talk, titled “Designing a post-pandemic, sustainable future,” which was followed by the opportunity to co-emcee IDSA’s Sustainability Deep Dive with Kevin Bethune in June 2021. “Both of these programs have given me the amazing chance to expand the conversation on sustainability beyond the traditional material use and carbon footprint into discussions about consumerism, social justice, and equity,” she says. This is all on top of IDSA’s new city-based chapter initiative motivating Sayeh to start a new professional chapter in Toronto with fellow chapter officers Brian Ebbinghaus, IDSA, and Harpreet Singh, IDSA.
“Toronto is such an amazing hub for Canada’s dynamic design scene and it seemed to be such a good time to give it a unique voice within the IDSA community,” Sayeh attests. “Beginning our programs during the pandemic lockdown has led us to start our activities with monthly, free, lunchtime online talks by speakers who reflect our expansive vision of what we want the conversations to be about. We aim to inspire and motivate all those who attend, and the response has been so good that we will continue the series even after the resumption of in-person activities.”
Also in 2021, Sayeh sponsored four teams in two projects, including “Reducing migratory bird deaths from light pollution caused by tall commercial buildings in downtown Toronto” and a passive clothes drying system that could be used year-round in a typical Toronto home. She published a free, online curriculum to enagage children with gardening and continued her work with the Engineering Strategies and Practices (ESP) program at the University of Toronto. As part of this program, “clients” like Sayeh provide problem briefs to first-year engineering students, who use the opportunity to build real-world skills in engaging with clients to solve problems.
Since 2008, Sayeh has been the in-house industrial design consultant at Standard Deviation LLC, which custom builds motion capture systems for movies, games, and sports applications. She has worked on projects ranging from motion capture cameras to face tracking helmets like the one currently used on the TV show Alter Ego. In 2021, Standard Deviation won the Academy Award (Technical Oscar) for their work on a head-mounted camera system.
In 2022, IDSA Toronto will be taking part in the Toronto Design Festival, where John Arnott, IDSA, Dr. Mark Chignell, Dr. Dennis Kappen, and Nicole Norris will discuss the diverse ways that concepts develop into an array of products, from physical to digital to systems.
Finally, Sayeh acknowledges that “Our chapter recognizes the lack of diversity and silence around issues of social equity, representation, and leadership. Inspired by IDSA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council (DEIC) findings, we are exploring opportunities to collaborate with members of marginalized design professionals to transform our local industrial design community to better reflect the diversity that exists.”
