Michiko Stas, IDSA
Chair, IDSA New York City Chapter | 2020-2021
Michiko holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Oregon (2009), and an MID from Pratt Institute (2019), and is currently enrolled in Pratt’s Design Management program with an eye towards finding financial incentive for considering Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns (UNSDG goal 12) in corporate product development. With a background in sociology, one of her core values as a designer is dignity. For her MID, she designed attachments that convert an ordinary bedside commode into a rocking chair, to ease the discomfort of constipation for people with mobility challenges.
As Industrial Designers are pulled in increasingly disparate directions–drawing, 3D modeling, physical prototyping, coding, 2D design; the sociologist in her wants to know how we build a community of specialist with a decreasing number of shared skills. During her tenure as Chair, IDSA-NYC adapts as we discover what these changes mean for the Industrial Design community.
