Assistant/Associate Professor, Product Design (Physical and Digital)

Assistant/Associate Professor, Product Design (Physical and Digital)

The Division of Multi-Disciplinary Design (MDD) is now accepting applications for a full-time Assistant or Associate Professor in design, specializing in product design with expertise in physical and/or digital design. This is a full-time, 9-month faculty position with an expected start date of July 2026.

Housed within the College of Architecture + Planning, MDD promotes design education across disciplines through an innovative and applied curriculum. With areas of focus across digital, physical, and exploratory design, we are a community of academics, professionals, and students engaging in hands-on design work to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world.

A consistent thread of innovative design education runs throughout MDD. The program includes a breadth of ‘products' in its purview, encompassing physical and digital artifacts at various scales, as well as service and systems design. The MDD curriculum is strategically designed around Studio Practice, Technical Competency, Historical and Theoretical Foundations, and Applied Practice. The program integrates artistic, technical, and theoretical frameworks to foster a comprehensive design education. This integrative approach promotes critical analysis, inventive thinking, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, leveraging a curriculum that incorporates additional expertise from architecture, fine arts, communication, business, engineering, and computer science. Key educational imperatives include promoting inquiry-driven learning, advancing visual literacy, fostering methodological experimentation, and cultivating collaborative capabilities. This multi-disciplinary approach, along with collaborations with community stakeholders and industry partners, enable students to engage with authentic design challenges, enhancing both their professional preparedness and societal impact.

Scholarship and creative activity within the Division of Multi-Disciplinary Design reflect the program's broad and practice-driven approach, integrating design research, technology, material studies, and community engagement. MDD faculty produce a wide range of scholarly outputs, including peer-reviewed journal articles, patents, design exhibitions, book chapters, funded research projects, interactive media, and public installations. This diverse body of work accommodates multiple forms of design practice, ensuring that research remains both theoretically rigorous and practically applied.

Position Description

This position will focus on the design, development, and implementation of physical and/or digital products. For appointments at the assistant professor rank, we are seeking An early career faculty member with some experience teaching and a research agenda which shows promise for developing towards tenure at the University of Utah. For appointments at the associate professor rank, we are seeking a mid-career faculty member who currently holds tenure or who demonstrates a record of professional and creative achievement that would make them eligible for tenure at the University of Utah. The successful candidate will have a strong record of applied design work, an understanding of production or implementation processes, and experience teaching the practical aspects of design through studio-based learning.

We seek a designer with professional experience and demonstrated achievement in product design—either physical or digital—or the integration of both. The ideal candidate will have expertise in one or more of the following areas: industrial design, digital product and interaction design, interface design, materials and manufacturing, or prototyping and testing.

The position emphasizes applied practice, process-based learning, and design execution rather than theory. Candidates should be able to guide students from early concept development through prototyping, refinement, and production. The ability to connect design education with industry standards, technology development, and contemporary professional practices is essential.

Minimum Qualifications:

• A terminal degree or its equivalent in Industrial Design, Product Design, Interaction Design, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience teaching hands-on design studios and applied project courses.
• Ability to work with a range of design tools and processes, including prototyping, CAD, digital fabrication, and/or UX/UI workflows.Excellent communication skills and ability to work across disciplinary boundaries
• Evidence of research or creative work that connects directly to industry, practice, or production and shows the potential to be published in peer-reviewed exhibits, showcases, publications, etc.
• For associate professor level appointments, demonstrated record of applied design, professional work, or creative achievement consistent with appointment as a tenured Associate Professor at a Research 1 institution. Research at this level should contribute to the field in impactful ways, be peer-reviewed, and broadly disseminated.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience developing and managing industry-sponsored or client-based projects in design education.
• Demonstrated integration of emerging technologies such as AI, extended reality, and/or Internet of Things into applied product design.
• Record of collaboration with external partners, companies, or community organizations.
• Recognition through design awards, exhibitions, patents, or professional honors.
• Experience contributing to curriculum development focused on professional readiness and portfolio outcomes.
• Experience teaching or collaborating in interdisciplinary teams across physical and digital domains.
• Experience mentoring junior faculty (for associate professor rank only)

Qualified applicants must submit:

• A curriculum vitae.
• A letter of application including statements of pedagogical and professional objectives.
• A website link with portfolio and/or a 20-page (maximum) design portfolio (20 MB limit submitted as PDF) with examples of design, teaching, and/or scholarly work.
• A list of three references with phone numbers, mailing addresses, and email addresses.

The search committee will begin reviewing applications on January 31, 2026. Applications will remain open for consideration until this position is filled.

Department: 01138 - Design
City: Salt Lake City, UT
Track: Tenure Track
Close Date:
Open Until Filled: Yes
Requisition Number: PRN01460CF