The University of Oregon’s Product Design department is set to host the Industrial Designers Society of America’s West District conference for the second year in a row. The theme of this year’s conference, “People, Process, Possibilities” will paint a holistic picture of the current design landscape and provide attendees with tools and methodologies for their own practice. At the conference taking place April 6-7 at the UO in Portland, attendees will learn from designers who bring a broad understanding of creativity and savvy business acumen.

Four faculty members from the Department of Product Design will be among the speakers for the conference:

John Arndt, associate professor, and Wohnee Arndt, assistant professor, both of Studio Gorm, will speak about their project, Furnishing Utopia, a design collective that evolved out of a workshop exploring American Shaker culture and values.

Susan Sokolowski, PhD, associate professor and director of the Sports Product Design graduate program based in Portland, will present “What's Happening in 3D Body Scanning: Applications for Industrial Design.” Attendees will have the opportunity to experience the latest technologies used for 3D body scanning firsthand and learn how students have been integrating 3D scans into their innovative designs.

Wilson Smith III, an instructor in the Department of Product Design and senior designer at Nike, will also speak at the conference.

Conference registration is open now.

Read more about the College of Design’s academic programs offered in Portland.