Liz Sanders

Liz Sanders: Liz Sanders is the founder of MakeTools www.maketools.com, a company that explores new spaces in the emerging design landscapes. She is a visionary in pre-design research, having introduced many of the tools, techniques and methods being used today to drive and/or inspire design from a human-centered perspective. Liz has practiced co-designing across all the design disciplines. Her current focus is on bringing participatory, human-centered design thinking and co-creation practices to the challenges we face for the future. Liz speaks about and offers learning experiences in human-centered design research and innovation for clients, colleagues and students around the world. She has a Ph.D. in Experimental and Quantitative Psychology and a B.A. in both Psychology and in Anthropology.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Founder, MakeTools (January 2005 to present) MakeTools uses generative tools to explore collective creativity. President, SonicRim (1999 to 2005) SonicRim is a consulting firm that offers design research services to companies who want to stay in tune with and respond to the emerging needs of their customers. Vice President, Fitch Inc. (1982 to 1999) Fitch Inc. is an interdisciplinary design consulting firm serving clients in many industries.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

The Ohio State University (OSU) (1992 to present) a Senior Lecturer, Department of Industrial, Interior, and Visual Communication Design a Adjunct Faculty Member, Industrial and Systems Engineering a Advise many Masters and Ph.D. students from OSU (and other universities) a Regularly teach these required courses: a Industrial Design 555: Design Research for undergraduate students a Industrial Design 786: Design Research for graduate students

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Member of the Board of Advisors for the School of Design since 1999

University of Dundee, Scotland

Honorary Professorship in the School of Design, Faculty of Duncan of Jordanstone College

RELATED ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES a Associate Editor for CoDesign: Collaboration in Design a Have conducted workshops and made presentations to students and faculty in many different universities including: a Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA (visit there once a year) a Stanford University in Stanford, CA a University of Art and Design in Helsinki, Finland a Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands a Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL a University of Washington in Seattle, WA a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY a University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta a North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC a Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia a