I am a German-Canadian design, research and education professional, crafty person & dog lover.

I work as the Innovation Partnerships Manager in the domain Digital Technology with the Office of the Vice President, Research & Innovation at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, BC Canada. The Innovation Partnerships team provides sector-specific expertise to help stimulate innovation and connects partners in industry, not-for-profit or community groups with UBC researchers. We help to ensure that new knowledge being generated can turn into results with social and economic benefits.

Prior to my current position I was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Umeå Institute of Design (UID) in Umea, Sweden where I worked with Heather Wiltse and Johan Redström on the project “Design Philosophy for Things that Change” funded by the Wallenberg Foundation. Before that, I worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at UBC’s Department of Computer Science with Joanna McGrenere and Karon MacLean on the Design for People (DfP) Research Cluster and Grad Training Program (NSERC CREATE) helping develop a cross-disciplinary graduate program in the human-centered design of technology.

My expertise includes Human-Computer Interaction, interaction, communication and industrial design, UX/UI development, user research, design ethnography, ethics of technology design, practice-based research, speculative design, human-technology relations, philosophy of technology and its relation to design research and practice.

I hold a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction and Design Research from the School of Interactive Arts + Technology (SIAT) at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, BC, Canada. As a doctoral student I worked in the Everyday Design Studio under the supervision of Professors Ron Wakkary, world-renowned philosopher of technology and design Peter-Paul Verbeek (University of Twente, Netherlands), and Carman Neustaedter. I also hold a Masters of Arts in Design from Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Schwäbisch Gmünd, a small design school firmly rooted in the era of Bauhaus and especially curricular developments of the Ulm School of Design. Lastly, I also hold a Diplom (German graduate degree comparable to a 4-year BSc. Hons.) in Information Science & Engineering from Hochschule Darmstadt (h_da).

I helped build one of the first and most successful Interaction Design programs in Germany (at the HfG Schwäbisch Gmünd) and have taught design studio courses and design-related courses and held lectures at seven Universities (h_da, HfG, SFU, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, The University of British Columbia, Twente University, UID). Earlier, I have also worked in research for design at advertising agencies (Ogilvy & Mather, saatchi & saatchi) and consulting companies.

I’m an animal lover and have two dogs and a cat. I’m enthusiastic about healthy and environmental-friendly living, woodworking, DIY, cooking, hiking, and foraging.

Here you can view my academic CV.

Feel free to e-mail me.