Gourab Kar

Academic

Ahmedabad, India
To work in a creative and challenging environment where i can augment my research and design skills and successfully contribute to the organisation. I view design as the process of creating value and employ this broad outlook to analysing problems and creating solutions within a human-centered context. I use a range of research and design methods to iteratively prototype concepts and refine them as they coalesce into a coherent solution. I am passionate about the transformative potential of design thinking and look forward to opportunities to showcase my talents, skills and abilities as a designer and an educator.

Work Experience

Antenna Design New York Inc

Assistant Industrial Designer

Full spectrum ID work on a variety of projects ranging from mass transit, consumer electronics, workspace and environmental design.
February 2011 - June 2011 New York, New York, United States

National Institute Of Design

Faculty & Coordinator, Product Design

I lead the Product Design Department at NID.
November 2011 - Present Ahmedabad, India

Work Experience

CATEA, Georgia Tech

Industrial Designer

Designed ergonomic work chair for dental professionals in response to high incidence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in dental work. Features included front & elbow support reduction in work injuries & increase in efficiency. Design validated by dental professionals through user trials.

Lead designer for creation of public sculpture for Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture centenary celebrations. Responsible for conceptualization, CAD Modeling, project management, digital fabrication & final installation.

Design Researcher for Inclusive Indoor Play Project, US Dept of Education. Created research strategies to explore how children with and without disabilities play indoors to come up with inclusive play guidelines & build inclusive playthings. Research featured in Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Journal.
August 2008 - Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Education

Georgia Institute Of Technology

Master of Industrial Design

I flew half-way across the world to the School of Industrial Design at Georgia Tech to pursue a Masters Degree in Industrial Design with a concentration in Universal Design. I have been actively involved in design research on a broad range of topics under the guidance of Professor Abir Mullick at Georgia Tech. My work has been featured in the Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics and my design of the Centennial Bench at CoA, Georgia Tech is now a permanent exhibit in the College of Architecture. I have been awarded the Irving Lebowski Design Fellowship at the School of ID, Georgia Tech for 2010 and won the First Prize in Cardboard Seat Competition 2010 organized by AIA Atlanta. I look forward to using my abilities as a human factors researcher and industrial designer to solving problems in a human centered context.
August 2008 - January 2011 Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Education

Birla Institute Of Technology

Bachelor of Architecture

I developed my design skills and put them to practice during the five years of architectural education at BIT Mesra. I was exposed to the works of Corbusier, Kahn and Piano and their architectural vocabulary and mastery of the spatial dimension made a lasting impression during those formative years. In collaboration with a couple of my batch mates, I won zonal and national design competitions for various design proposals. Notable among them was the first prize for design of an auditorium for Ranchi, India as well as the prize for the concept design of the National Gallery of Modern Art at Hyderabad, India. My quest for the pursuit of design excellence in the human-environment matrix lead me to my graduate studies in Industrial Design at IIT Delhi.
September 1999 - May 2004 Mesra, Ranchi, India

Education

Indian Institute Of Technology Delhi

Master of Design

My ambition to become an Industrial Designer was realized when i made it to the M.Des Program at IIT Delhi. I was involved in design projects that explored contextual solutions to the problems of drinking water supply during natural disasters and energy shortage in rural and urban areas. Two of my projects were a backpack mounted hand cranked water purifier for use in floods and a solar film based window blind for zero energy buildings. I was guided by Professor Lalit Kumar Das in my Thesis Project for the Backpack Water Purifier project which was sponsored by Pentair Inc.
August 2004 - May 2006 New Delhi, India

Languages

English (Fluent),
Bengali (Native),
Hindi (Fluent),

Awards

AIA Atlanta

First Prize, Cardboard Seat Competition 2010

201002

School Of Industrial Design

Irving Lebowski Design Fellowship

201004

INSDAG, India

Third Prize, National Gallery of Modern Art Concept Design

200307

Ranchi Regional Development Authority

First Prize, Auditorium Design Competition

200203

National Association Of Students Of Architecture

First Prize, Urban Space Design

200312

Skills

Brainstorming Techniques, Conceptual Design, Digital Fabrication, Digital Modeling, Freehand Sketching, Ideation, Participatory Design, Rendering, Storyboarding, Storytelling,

Skills

Cognitive Walkthroughs, Contextual Interviews, Design Guides, Focus Groups, Observational Research, Personas, Scenarios, Surveys, Task Analysis, Think Aloud Protocol,

Softwares

SolidWorks, Alias Studio, Rhino, AutoCAD, 3ds Max, SketchUp, Hypershot, Flamingo, Photoview 360, Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro, MS Office Suite