Kairu Tong (he/him) is an industrial designer working at the intersections of sustainability and design justice to make projects that emphasize joy over nihilism. He’s worked to make sustainable furniture, accessible footwear accessories, and a kit to support queer medical research. He graduated with a degree in product design at Parsons School of Design, where he gained recognition for his work to be archived by the university, won the Social Justice Product Design Award for his capstone project, and earned the IDSA Design Visionaries Grand Prize.
His work has been shown at Craft Contemporary LA and Stonewall National Monument Visitor’s Center. Kairu joins IDSA as Education Initiatives Lead to support design education and encourage the growth of the next generation of product designers.
