GDTA Spotlight with Mugendi  – “Empathy and Community: Human-Centered Design in Afrika”

In our session held via zoom on Mai 12th, 2022 at 3:00 pm (CEST) / 09:00 am (EDT), we welcomed our speaker Mugendi K. M’Rithaa, Professor of Industrial Design at Machakos University.  Mugendi talked about “Empathy and Community: Human-Centered Design in Afrika” 

The presentation explored unique ways in which traditional Afrikan philosophy and practice complement HCD and Design Thinking with an emphasis on empathy and a sense of community (as elaborated in Ubuntu). Beyond ways of designerly thinking and doing, Ubuntu challenges us to adopt

Mugendi K. M’Rithaa, Professor of Industrial Design at Machakos University

Prof. Mugendi K. M’Rithaa is a transdisciplinary industrial designer, educator, researcher and consultant presently working at Machakos University, Kenya. He is widely traveled and has taught in Kenya, Botswana, Canada, India, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and Uganda and is passionate about various expressions of socially conscious design. Mugendi has a special interest in the pivotal role of design thinking in advancing the developmental agenda on the African continent. He is a founding member and fellow of the Pan-Afrikan Design Institute (PADI)/Design Council of Afrika, and is associated with a number of other international networks focusing on design within industrially developing (or majority world contexts) including the Association of Designers of India (ADI). Mugendi is President Emeritus and Senator of the World Design Organization – having been the first African President in the history of the WDO from 2015-2017.

More Spotlight Events

Session #1 “Echos between Australia and Brazil – Creating virtual Design Thinking learning experiences”

In a discussion with GDTA President Uli Weinberg, Ricardo Ruffo and Reinaldo Campos from Echos Innovation Lab in Brazil shared how they are creating online Design Thinking learning experiences between Australia and Brazil.

GDTA Spotlight with Dark Horse Innovation

How passion, collaboration, and persistence turned an idea into a thriving business. Born from one of the first cohorts of the D-School Potsdam, Dark Horse defied the odds to become a sustainable business venture.

April 2025: GDTA Spotlight with Michael Lewrick

Michael Lewrick, bestselling author of The Design Thinking Playbook and AI and Innovation, leads an inspiring session exploring how Artificial Intelligence is transforming Design Thinking practices worldwide.

February 2024: GDTA Spotlight with SNS Institutions

In our talk on February 20th, 2024 four educators from SNS Insitutions Coimbatore, India shared their insights on Design Thinking in education starting with K12 to PhD in several streams. SNS had recently crossed 25yr mark with nearly 14K + student fraternity and nearly 37k+ alma mater. The Design Thinking Framework is applied to improve the quality of teaching methodologies to increase student engagement. For this to come true, one measure introduced is 3P Culture: Purpose, Process, People.

GDTA Session#11 with Tecnológico de Monterrey

At this GDTA session on June 15, 2021, Alejandro Rodriguez, Associate Director for Industrial Design Department at Tecnológico de Monterrey, and his team talked about “Education and Design Thinking: How Tecnológico de Monterrey is applying Design Thinking across all their campus, education and innovation.”

GDTA Spotlight – “Design Thinking at Universidad Mayor: The Journey of the first Latin American D-School” with D-School Chile

At our GDTA Spotlight session on January 18th, we were welcoming our speakers Isabella Stranger, Gastón Roca and Yael Gitman from D-School Chile. They talked about how the first Latin American D-School came to life at the very core of a Chilean University, what they have built in 3 years of history, and what challenges they are hoping to tackle next.

GDTA Session #8 with The Design Thinking School at the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu

Remember the experiments and challenges you faced while starting a new project? Before 2019, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu didn’t dream a small idea would turn into so many new research projects, competitions to encourage students to innovate and the first D-School in Romania.

February 2025: GDTA Spotlight with Impact Week´s Carolin Tänzer

How can Design Thinking drive real change? Since 2015, Impact Week has evolved from a volunteer initiative into a thriving social enterprise, empowering communities, fostering skills, and sparking impactful social businesses.

GDTA Spotlight with Prezi Co-Founder Adam Somlai-Fischer

Adam Somlai-Fischer, Co-Founder of Prezi, shared how a personal challenge sparked a global storytelling revolution. Discover the magic of spatial visual storytelling, AI’s role in transforming presentations, and the impact of LLMs on visual thinking.

GDTA Session #10 with The Learning Factory at Penn State University

At our online session on May 18, 2021 Matt Parkinson, Professor and Director of The Learning Factory, College of Engineering at Penn State University, and Jessica Menold, Assistant Professor of Engineering Design at Penn State University, talked about the Design Thinking process that contributed to the development of a new university building, dedicated to Design Thinking and prototyping.

GDTA Spotlight with CMR University

On June 27th, 2023 we welcomed Vindhya Umapathy, Design Thinking Lead at CMR University (Bangalore, India). She spoke on the topic of “Fostering Design Thinking Mindsets amongst University Students“.

GDTA Spotlight – “Innovation Pace in Times of Pandemic: Research Insights” with Maria Stashenko, Director, Design Thinking Center Moscow

At our GDTA Spotlight session on November 12th, Maria Stashenko, Director, Design Thinking Center Moscow, talked about “Innovation Pace in Times of Pandemic: Research Insights”.

Session #2 with Linlin Shui, Communication University of China

In a discussion with GDTA president Prof. Uli Weinberg and other GDTA members, Linlin Shui, Head of the Design Thinking Innovation Center at the Communication University of China (CUC), shared impressions from China during the Covid-19 pandemic and explained how CUC build a prototype for an online Design Thinking course in only two weeks.

GDTA Spotlight Special: Value-based engineering with Design Thinking

The Global Design Thinking Alliance, in collaboration with the IEEE Standards Association and Vienna University of Economics and Business, invited you to the GDTA Spotlight Special Edition “Value-Based Engineering in Design Thinking,” which took place on March 10th, 2022, from 9:00-11:30 am (EST) / 3:00-5:30 pm (CET) via Zoom.

GDTA Spotlight with V&A Dundee – “Entangled Values: The Power of Networks”

In our session held via zoom on April 7th, 2022 at 4:00 pm (CEST) / 10:00 am (EDT), we welcomed our speakers Lynne Martin, Strategic Lead for Design for Business at V&A Dundee, and Annie Marrs, Lead Officer at UNESCO City of Design Dundee. Lynne and Annie talked about “Entangled Values: The Power of Networks”.

GDTA Spotlight with Hasso Plattner Institute Potsdam

In our last session on June 28th, 2022, at 3:00 pm (CEST) / 09:00 am (EDT), we welcomed our speakers Prof. Dr. Falk Uebernickel, Professor for Design Thinking and Innovation Research at Hasso Plattner Institute, and Dr. Danielly de Paula, Senior Researcher at Hasso Plattner Institute.