Profile:
Shashank Mehta is a seasoned design educator, strategist, and advisor with nearly four decades of experience at the intersection of design, education, and innovation. Having spent over thirty years at the National Institute of Design (NID), he has shaped generations of designers while leading pioneering initiatives that bridged academia, industry, and society. His work spans teaching, institution building, industry collaboration, and design-led interventions for development, most notably the Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs. Today, he continues to work as a Strategy Advisor in Design and Education, guiding institutions and organizations to harness design for sustainable growth and social impact.
A distinguished figure in the field of industrial design, education, and strategic advisory, Shashank Mehta’s career spans more than thirty-eight years. For over three decades, he served at the National Institute of Design, where he began as a student and went on to become one of its most respected faculty members and administrators. His professional journey has been shaped deeply by NID’s ethos and by Charles Eames’s enduring definition of design—one rooted in humility, sensitivity, and empathy. Having recently concluded his long tenure at the institute, he now applies his insights and experience as a Strategy Advisor, working with institutions, industries, and organizations to envision future-ready design interventions and educational frameworks.
As a Principal Faculty in Industrial Design, his contribution to design education has been both profound and far-reaching. His teaching philosophy emphasized not only the development of design skills but also the cultivation of students as socially aware and responsible professionals. Over the years, he taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels across a wide spectrum of design disciplines. The courses he taught ranged from skill-based and studio courses to theoretical explorations, and some of the notable ones included Analytical Drawing, Elements of Design, Materials and Processes, and Model Making. He guided numerous diploma projects and mentored students in tackling design challenges ranging from simple product design to technically complex systems. His approach consistently combined rigor with empathy, enabling students to develop a nuanced understanding of the designer’s role in society.
Shashank Mehta also played a pioneering role in developing new pedagogical directions at NID. He conceptualized and introduced course modules such as Indigenous Innovations, Service Design, Design Audit, and Introduction to Experience Design, which opened up fresh avenues for students to engage with emerging practices in the design field. These courses reflected his vision of keeping design education not only relevant but also forward-looking. His leadership was also instrumental in formulating the vision and curriculum for NID’s four-year undergraduate program in Product Design and its postgraduate counterpart in Product Design Engineering, initiatives that continue to shape the institute’s academic fabric.
His influence extended well beyond the classroom through a number of pivotal leadership and administrative roles at NID. Over the years, he served as Activity Chairperson of the Professional Education Programme, Industry Programmes and Projects, Outreach Programmes, Research and Publications, and the Faculty Development Programme. He was also the Vice-Chairperson of the Education wing of the Institute, and he headed the Product Design discipline as its Coordinator. In addition, he led the Centre for Training of Trainers and the Foundation Programmes, and served as the Chairperson of the Purchase Committee for more than six years. His involvement with institutional development was complemented by his role on staff evaluation and review committees, as well as his participation in academic forums such as the international conference FLUX: Design Education in a Changing World.
Parallel to his academic leadership, Shashank Mehta maintained a strong engagement with professional practice. A qualified mechanical engineer and product designer, his career reflects a balance of academic vision and hands-on industry experience. He has worked with both large-scale industries and grassroots sectors, designing consumer products, medical equipment, furniture, public utilities, and innovations for rural communities. His work integrated user aspirations with industry constraints, enabling viable and impactful design solutions. Among his professional contributions, he helped establish India’s first Design Business Incubator at NID and conceptualized the country’s first e-learning module on package design.
One of the defining milestones of his career was his leadership of the Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises), a nationwide initiative supported by the Ministry of MSMEs, Government of India. As the project head, he steered the scheme to reach over two hundred MSME clusters across the country, organizing more than a thousand seminars, workshops, and projects. This program brought design thinking and design practices to the grassroots of India’s economy, making it one of the most ambitious design interventions in the MSME sector.
Alongside his teaching and practice, he has made significant contributions as an author, researcher, and speaker. His writings and lectures explore themes such as technology and design, sustainability, indigenous innovation, and design for development. He coordinated the India chapter of the international DESIS Network (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability), and his leadership of the Design Clinic Scheme culminated in the publication of Design at the Doorstep: Design Approaches for MSMEs, a book that highlights the challenges and characteristics of India’s MSME sector. He also co-edited the two-volume publication Entrepreneurial Empowerment through Design, which documented over a hundred case studies of design interventions in MSMEs. In addition, he co-organized and co-edited the proceedings of Design Education: Tradition and Modernity (DETM05), the first international conference on design education in Asia, which featured more than eighty scholarly papers. His contributions to design discourse are complemented by his roles on advisory and review committees for international conferences and as a member of boards of industry associations and NGOs.
Today, Shashank Mehta continues to channel his rich experience into his work as a Strategy Advisor in Design and Education. He collaborates with academic institutions, industries, and NGOs to guide curriculum development, innovation ecosystems, and social impact projects. His career embodies the belief that design is not merely about creating products or services but about shaping systems, fostering inclusivity, and driving sustainable progress. Through his multifaceted contributions, he continues to inspire students, professionals, and organizations to see design as a transformative force in society.
www.shashankmehta.com
https://nid.academia.edu/ShashankMehta
www.designclinicsindia.blogspot.in
www.servicedesignindia.wordpress.com
www.nid.edu |
