Shashank Mehta
Shashank Mehta is a principal faculty of Industrial Design at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
Shashank served as the Activity Chairperson of the Institute’s Professional Education Programme for four years. Prior to that, Shashank also served as the project head of the Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs, a unique and ambitious design intervention scheme for the country’s large MSME sector. Supported by the Ministry of MSMEs, the Government of India, the scheme reached out to over 200 MSME clusters through the organization of Design Sensitization Seminars, Design Awareness Programmes and Design Projects.
A qualified mechanical engineer and product designer, Shashank has also added to his professional expertise by working as an engineer, designer, and production in-charge with small and large scale industries and the craft and social sectors as well. He has worked on several projects, ranging from consumer products, medical equipment, furniture & Interiors, public utility, to grassroots innovations. Shashank has worked with the industries
as a designer, design consultant and also as a consultant retainer. All this, coupled with sharp business acumen, he acquired that much needed holistic understanding of integrating user aspirations with industry constraints and demands, thus introducing viable design solutions.
Over the years Shashank has taught at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels, spanning various design disciplines. Shashank has spearheaded the introduction of new course modules 'Design Process', ‘Indigenous Innovations’, ‘Service Design’, ‘Design Audit’, and ‘Introduction to Experience Design’, that is in sync with the rapidly changing demands and aspirations of the industry and economy in general. He also anchored and conducted several workshops on these topics for the participants from various sectors of industries. In 2007, he developed the vision report and the curriculum for the four-year
the undergraduate program in Product Design. Shashank also developed a curriculum for the Postgraduate Programme in Product Design Engineering.
Shashank has extensively worked in the area of technology and design fusion,
sustainability and indigenous innovations. He was involved in conceptualizing the first e-learning module on package design and also helped set up the country’s first Design Business Incubator at NID. Shashank has successfully anchored international workshops with a specific focus on ‘design for development’. In 2005, Shashank organized the first of its kind International Conference on Design education in Asia – Design Education: Tradition and Modernity, DETM05. He also served as the member of the advisory
committee and the member of the review committee for various international conferences and juries.
Shashank served as the Activity Chairperson of the Institute’s Professional Education Programme for four years. Prior to that, Shashank also served as the project head of the Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs, a unique and ambitious design intervention scheme for the country’s large MSME sector. Supported by the Ministry of MSMEs, the Government of India, the scheme reached out to over 200 MSME clusters through the organization of Design Sensitization Seminars, Design Awareness Programmes and Design Projects.
A qualified mechanical engineer and product designer, Shashank has also added to his professional expertise by working as an engineer, designer, and production in-charge with small and large scale industries and the craft and social sectors as well. He has worked on several projects, ranging from consumer products, medical equipment, furniture & Interiors, public utility, to grassroots innovations. Shashank has worked with the industries
as a designer, design consultant and also as a consultant retainer. All this, coupled with sharp business acumen, he acquired that much needed holistic understanding of integrating user aspirations with industry constraints and demands, thus introducing viable design solutions.
Over the years Shashank has taught at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels, spanning various design disciplines. Shashank has spearheaded the introduction of new course modules 'Design Process', ‘Indigenous Innovations’, ‘Service Design’, ‘Design Audit’, and ‘Introduction to Experience Design’, that is in sync with the rapidly changing demands and aspirations of the industry and economy in general. He also anchored and conducted several workshops on these topics for the participants from various sectors of industries. In 2007, he developed the vision report and the curriculum for the four-year
the undergraduate program in Product Design. Shashank also developed a curriculum for the Postgraduate Programme in Product Design Engineering.
Shashank has extensively worked in the area of technology and design fusion,
sustainability and indigenous innovations. He was involved in conceptualizing the first e-learning module on package design and also helped set up the country’s first Design Business Incubator at NID. Shashank has successfully anchored international workshops with a specific focus on ‘design for development’. In 2005, Shashank organized the first of its kind International Conference on Design education in Asia – Design Education: Tradition and Modernity, DETM05. He also served as the member of the advisory
committee and the member of the review committee for various international conferences and juries.
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Papers by Shashank Mehta
Design Clinics is one such unique design research approach developed for the country's large micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs. Majority - over 94% of Indian industries, being MSMEs, and most issues here being intertwined, this approach of design research provides the much needed platform for different experts and stakeholders to interact, clearly identify the opportunities and develop remedial solutions. And in this process help develop holistic roadmap for the industry as well as the cluster to move up the value chain. Launched countrywide as Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs by the government of India in the year 2010, this ambitious scheme is implemented by the National Institute of Design.
This research paper is an attempt to share the experiences of implementing this unique design research approach throughout the country and scale it up for its wider applications, systemisation, quality benchmarks and effective outcomes.
announced national programme ‘Make in India’, the focus is now firmly shifting to labor intensive
manufacturing. Over 94% of the Indian industries comprise of micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs,
spread across the country. The workers, the laborers, the artisans, majority of them from the lower economic
strata of the society, and many of these industries operating either from small places or from individual homes,
spend most of their time with poorly designed hand tools, machine tools, equipment, lighting, workstations,
thereby exposing them to serious health hazards. Ergonomically designed tools, equipment and workstations
that are contextual and appropriate will thus be the critical step for the government, towards embarking this
ambitious journey.
The Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs, a unique and ambitious design intervention scheme launched by the
Government of India aims to bring the designers and experts to the doorsteps of these industries to discuss,
analyze and identify such opportunities to then develop remedial solutions.
While sharing the experiences gained over the last four years of implementing this scheme, the paper attempts to
sensitize the young designers and engineers to look at this critical issue that needs immediate attention.
http://www.designclinicsmsme.org/download/CaseStudyofDesignProjectsDCSNID.pdf
Design Clinics is one such unique design research approach developed for the country's large micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs. Majority - over 94% of Indian industries, being MSMEs, and most issues here being intertwined, this approach of design research provides the much needed platform for different experts and stakeholders to interact, clearly identify the opportunities and develop remedial solutions. And in this process help develop holistic roadmap for the industry as well as the cluster to move up the value chain. Launched countrywide as Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs by the government of India in the year 2010, this ambitious scheme is implemented by the National Institute of Design.
This research paper is an attempt to share the experiences of implementing this unique design research approach throughout the country and scale it up for its wider applications, systemisation, quality benchmarks and effective outcomes.
announced national programme ‘Make in India’, the focus is now firmly shifting to labor intensive
manufacturing. Over 94% of the Indian industries comprise of micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs,
spread across the country. The workers, the laborers, the artisans, majority of them from the lower economic
strata of the society, and many of these industries operating either from small places or from individual homes,
spend most of their time with poorly designed hand tools, machine tools, equipment, lighting, workstations,
thereby exposing them to serious health hazards. Ergonomically designed tools, equipment and workstations
that are contextual and appropriate will thus be the critical step for the government, towards embarking this
ambitious journey.
The Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs, a unique and ambitious design intervention scheme launched by the
Government of India aims to bring the designers and experts to the doorsteps of these industries to discuss,
analyze and identify such opportunities to then develop remedial solutions.
While sharing the experiences gained over the last four years of implementing this scheme, the paper attempts to
sensitize the young designers and engineers to look at this critical issue that needs immediate attention.
http://www.designclinicsmsme.org/download/CaseStudyofDesignProjectsDCSNID.pdf
Product Design, as a professional discipline, shaped our physical world over the years. However, Product Design is today much more than just the humanization of technology. Its emphasis has now shifted from technological to human considerations. Products need to be designed to make sense or be meaningful to their stakeholders. A coherent and consistent product language helps create an aesthetic experience, the ‘wow!’ moment for its viewers. The conventional product design process is inadequate to address this dynamic nature of challenges. These call for a new specialist genre of design that can create an emotional and aesthetic resonance between people and products.
The workshop is offered now for over two decades. Its pedagogy has been constantly refined and revised, resulting into a unique framework for its effective delivery and outcomes. The participants in small groups study one of the existing services to understand its key elements and attributes. The learnings and understanding would then be applied to design a new service.
The methodology adopted for delivering the module takes the students through intense discussions, brainstorming, process of analysis, creative synthesis, scenario development methods, business model and strategy development, prototyping and testing methods. For each assignment, the participants are first asked to experience the context and the complexities, followed by intense discussions, explorations, and presentations, thereby helping them develop their own understanding.
The presentation is the framework of the three assignments to be used as guide/template by the participating groups.
Through this publication, the author informs the wider audience about the advantages of adopting design as a business strategy, and above all, the role of design and professional designers to raise the bar of quality of products of MSMEs to create better value in international business.