David Klein

David Klein, MFA, IDSA

– Product Design Adviser

Dave is an Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Metro State University of Denver, where a high value is placed on connections with the community. His classes and professional experience emphasize the design development process, industrial manufacturing and materials, and the history and social impact of technology and design. The best use of technology and design is toward human development, especially health and fitness. The tools we have created offer many new solutions to old human problems; there is a thrill in discovering and developing them. Dave has written and presented internationally about design and technology.

Educational Experience

• Master of Fine Art, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 1996
• Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Industrial Design, Southern Illinois University, 1988
• Fulbright-Hayes Seminars Abroad, in Czech and Slovak Republics, 2003
• Visiting Academic Scholar, Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, 2005
• China-Korea Design Forum, Beijing, 2005
• Japanese Studies Institute Fellowship, San Diego State University, 2008
• Education First tours to France, Austria, Germany, Hungary and England, 2010
• 2-week tour of the top design schools in Denmark, 2011

Professional Experience

• Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Metro State University of Denver
• Western District Vice-President of IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America)
• Create Denver Advisory Board, Arts and Venues
• Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Industrial Design for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and Roadmaster Corporation

Recent Publications/Presentations:

Technology, Society and History: Interdisciplinary Opportunities in Industrial Design Education, One Voice International Conference, Seattle, WA. 2010

Teaching Sustainability in an Industrial Design Curriculum, presentation and publication, National Collegiate Inventors and

Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) 11th Annual Conference, Washington, DC, 2009

Industrial Design and Marketing: Innovative Classroom Collaboration, presentation and publication, NCIIA 11th Annual

Conference, Orlando, FL, 2007

Motivational Factors and Tactics for the Student-Operated Business, publication with Mick Jackowski and Ken Phillips,

Marketing Educators’ Association Conference Proceedings, 2007

Roots and Fruits of Modernism presentation at the Kirkland Museum, Denver, CO, 2005

Creative Industrial Design Education presentation, NCIIA 10th Annual Conference, Portland, OR, 2006

Understanding International Industrial Design, lectures at Beijing University of Aviation and Aerospace, Beijing, China, 2005

Personal PhilosophyThe best use of design and technology is for human development of all kinds. Simplicity leads to the best designs, from aesthetic, functional, and manufacturing perspectives.

David has won lots of competitive USTA tennis matches, and a squash tourney finalist trophy, has a big garden full of fresh vegetables, and rides his electric bike wherever possible.