Ehsan Baha, MSc, BSc

Area of Study / Keywords

Designer Identity Design & Democracy Design-Driven Innovation Design Education Research through Design Decolonizing Design

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About

Ehsan Baha is a versatile design practitioner, researcher, and educator committed to creating more meaningful and improved ways of living. With over 15 years of experience across design practice, academia, and industry collaboration, his expertise spans high-tech systems, products, and service design.

Throughout his career, Ehsan has collaborated with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including: Arjo, Bang & Olufsen, City of Eindhoven, Connexxion, Design Academy Eindhoven, Dutch Royal Library, University of Twente, Ford Motor Company, the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, KLM, KPMG, LG Electronics, NHN Data, Philips, PHYSEE, The Red Cross, The School of Life, and Toyota.

Areas of Expertise:

• Design-Driven Innovation
• Service Design
• Strategic Design & Management
• Strategic Storytelling
• UI/UX and Visual Design
• Workshop Design, Moderation & Facilitation
• Design Identity, History & Philosophy
• Research through Design
• Lecturing & Studio-Based Design Education

Awards:

• Best University Lecturer (Nomination), TU Delft – Industrial Design Engineering (IDE), 2018
• Best Bachelor Lecturer (Awarded), TU Delft – IDE, 2018
• Best Paper Award, Design Research Society, 2018
• ITEA Golden Achievement Award, European Commission, 2007
• National Design Weekend Competition (Winner), i.d. LUCID / S.G. Daedalus, 2006
• Talent of the Year, TU Eindhoven – Industrial Design, 2003
• Philips Ambient Intelligence Design Competition (Winner), Philips, 2003

Affiliations: 

Ehsan is a member of the Design Research Laboratory (Hybridlab) at the University of Montreal and a visiting researcher in the Department of Design, Organization & Strategy at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology. He is also a full member of the New Club of Paris and the International Initiatives for Societal Innovation.

Publications: 

Available on ResearchGate, Google Scholar.

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Research

As a design researcher, educator, and practitioner, my work explores the authentic identity development of (industrial) designers within the evolving landscape of design as an undisciplined discipline. This perspective emerges from a historical inquiry into the transformation of industrial design—from its craft origins to its current status as an interdisciplinary field of study and practice.

Grounded in this evolution, my research engages critically with design literature spanning diverse fields such as design and democracy, design education, design expertise, and design-driven innovation. Across these domains, the concept of designer identity serves as a connective thread, not merely as a background condition but as a defining force in how design is practiced, taught, and imagined. I view designers not only as products of institutions but also as agents of institutional transformation.

Current Research Projects

I am currently involved in several collaborative research initiatives that examine different facets of designer identity:

1. Expertise Profiling in Design Schools

This project explores the expertise profiles of industrial design practitioners, researchers, and educators. It examines how these profiles emerge across design schools and evaluates the institutional balance of different forms of expertise—including design proficiency.

Collaborators:

• Prof. Tomás Dorta, PhD (Hybridlab, University of Montreal, Canada)
• Assoc. Prof. Philippe Gauthier, PhD (Design ∩ Society Group, University of Montreal, Canada)
• Assist. Prof. Tim Haats, MDes (Carleton University, Canada)

Selected publications:

• Baha, S. E., Dorta, T., Gauthier, P. (2024). Expertise Profiling in Design Schools: A Theoretical Framework. The 26th Design Research Society International Conference – Resistance, Recovery, Reflection, Reimagination (DRS 2024), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.649

2. Designer Identity and Education

This project explores how designer identity is cultivated in educational environments that emphasize both craft and strategic innovation. We focus on domains such as transportation design and strategic design education to better understand how identity is negotiated in complex, competitive, and tradition-rich contexts.

Collaborators:

• Prof. Dirk Snelders, PhD (Creative Processes Group, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands)
• Assist. Prof. Rebecca Anne Price, PhD (Creative Processes Group, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands)
• Assist. Prof. Juan Antonio Islas Muñoz, MDes (ViMO-Lab, University of Montreal, Canada)
• Assist. Prof. Abhigyan Singh, PhD (Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands)
• Boudewijn Boon, PhD (Independent Researcher, the Netherlands)
• Sana Boudhraâ, PhD (HEC Montreal, Canada)

Selected publication:

• Islas Muñoz, A. J., Baha, S. E., & Muratovski, G. (2022). Radically Innovating the Automotive Design Process with Immersive Technologies. The 24th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education – Disrupt, Innovate, Regenerate & Transform (E&PDE 2022), 1-6. https:/doi.org/10.35199/EPDE.2022.15

3. Design and Democracy

This initiative examines the democracy in design as a precondition for design of/for/in/as democracy. We frame democracy as agonistic pluralism, linking it to discourses in pluriversal design and decolonizing design through the lens of design anthropology.

Collaborators:

• Assoc. Prof. Bijan Aryana, PhD (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
• Assist. Prof. Abhigyan Singh, PhD (Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands)

Selected publications:

• Baha, S. E., & Aryana, B. (2025). [Review of the book Design and Democracy: Activist Thoughts and Examples for Political Empowerment, edited by M. Erlhoff, & M. Rezai]. Design Issues, 41(1), 74-77. https://doi.org/10.1162/desi_r_00796
• Baha, S. E., & Singh, A. (2024). Challenging the North-South Divide in Decolonizing Design. Diseña, (25), 1-17, Article 5. https://doi.org/10.7764/disena.25.Article.5
• Sing, A., & Baha, S. E. (2024). Decolonizing ‘energy exchange’ through global design anthropology. The 18th European Association for Social Anthropologists Biennial Conference – Doing and Undoing with Anthropology (EASA2024).

4. Design-Driven Innovation (D-DI)

This project investigates how designer identity fuels and guides design-driven innovation, especially in envisioning radical futures. Current explorations focus on data as a strategic design material and the role of AI in designing for, with, and through it.

Collaborators:

• Assist. Prof. Valeria Pannunzio, PhD (Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands)
• Taresh Ghei, MSc (Versuni – Philips Domestic Appliances)
• Niya Stoimenova, PhD (DEUS, the Netherlands)
• Reza Taghavifard, MEng (LIAR, University of Montreal, Canada)

Selected publications:

• Baha, S. E., Ghei, T., Kranzbühler, A. M. (2021). Mitigating Company Adoption Barriers of Design-Driven Innovation with Human Centered Design. The 23rd International Conference on Engineering Design – Design in Motion (ICED 21), 1, 2097-2106. https:/doi.org/10.1017/pds.2021.471
• Baha, S. E., Dawdy, G., Sturkenboom, N., Price, R. A., & Snelders, H. M. J. J. (2018). Good Design-Driven Innovation. The 23rd Design Research Society International Conference – Catalyst (DRS 2018), 1, 98-111. https:/doi.org/10.21606/dma.2017.648
• Baha, S. E., Groenewoud, A., & van Mensvoort, K. M. V. (2014). Servitization of Products as an Approach for Design-Driven Innovation. The 4th Service Design and Innovation Conference – Service Futures (ServDes 2014), 1, 154-163.
• Baha, S. E., Snelders, H. M. J. J., Lu, Y., & Brombacher, A. C. (2013). Retracing a Past Evolution of Meanings for Design-Driven Innovation. The 8th International Conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM 2013), 1, 41-52.
• Baha, S. E., Lu Y, Brombacher, A. C., & van Mensvoort, K. (2012). Most Advanced Yet Acceptable, but don’t forget. The 9th Conference on Engineering Design and Product Development (NordDesign 2012), 1, 51-58.

Collaboration and Supervision

I welcome collaboration across academic and professional domains. Within the University of Alberta, I am particularly interested in partnering with colleagues in:

• Faculty of Arts: Drama, Philosophy, Media and Technology Studies, Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology
• Other Faculties: Business, Engineering, and Education

Beyond academia, I am open to research partnerships with industry (especially high-tech and startups) and public sector organizations across Alberta, Canada, and internationally.

I also invite:

• Undergraduate students interested in research internships
• Graduate students (MA, MSc, PhD) seeking supervision or co-supervision
• Participation as a jury member in thesis committees and design competitions

DES 400 - Intermediate Industrial Design Principles and Practices I

Subject areas include research methods and the design processes; communication skills and collaborative dynamics, human factors, the psychology of design, material properties and applications for fabrication and production, market considerations. Projects are 2-D, 3-D and computer-based. Prerequisites: DES 300, 301, 302 and 303 or consent of the Department. BDes Students must enroll in DES 401 in second term. Note: Not open to students with credit in DES 470.

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DES 401 - Intermediate Industrial Design Principles and Practices II

Subject areas include research methods and the design processes; communication skills and collaborative dynamics, human factors, the psychology of design, material properties and applications for fabrication and production, market considerations. Projects are 2-D, 3-D and computer-based. Prerequisites: DES 400 or consent of the Department. Note: Not open to students with credit in DES 470.

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DES 595 - Service Design

Use of service design methods for the development of physical or digital products. Utilize tools such as journey maps and personas. Explore user-centred and collaborative approaches to create services and experiences. Prerequisite: DES 494 or DES 401 or consent of the Department. Note: while not required, taking DES 395 before DES 595 is recommended.

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Browse more courses taught by Ehsan Baha

Ehsan Baha, Bijan Aryana

Design Issues. 2025 January; 41 (1):74-77 10.1162/desi_r_00797

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Ehsan Baha, Abhigyan Singh

Diseña. 2024 October; 25 (5):1-17 10.7764/disena.25.Article.5

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Abhigyan Singh, Ehsan Baha

The 18th European Association of Social Anthropologists Biennial Conference (EASA 2024) – Doing and Undoing with Anthropology. 2024 July;

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Ehsan Baha, Tomás Dorta, Philippe Gauthier

Design Research Society International Conference (DRS 2024) – Resistance, Recovery, Reflection, Reimagination. 23-28 June 2024, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA.. 2024 June; 10.21606/drs.2024.649

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Juan Antonio Islas Munoz, Ehsan Baha, Gjoko Muratovski

The 24th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE 2022), 8-9 September 2022, London South Bank University, London, UK.. 2022 September; 10.35199/EPDE.2022.15

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Bijan Aryana, Ehsan Baha, Radka Newton

Design Thinking for New Business Contexts. 2022 April;

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Ehsan Baha, Taresh Ghei, Anne-Madeleine Kranzbühler

The 23rd International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 2021), 16-20 August 2021, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.. 2021 August; 1

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Ehsan Baha, Maartje Koch, Nick Sturkenboom, Rebecca Anne Price, Dirk Snelders

The Design Research Society International Conference 2020 – Synergy (DRS 2020),11-14 August 2020, Held online.. 2020 August; 4 10.21606/drs.2020.386

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Boudewijn Boon, Ehsan Baha, Abhigyan Singh, Frithjof Wegener, Marco Rozendaal, Pieter Jan Stappers

Design Research Society International Conference 2020 (DRS 2020) – Synergy,11-14 August 2020, Held online.. 2020 August; 1 10.21606/drs.2020.362

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Nick Sturkenboom, Ehsan Baha, Rebecca Anne Price, Maaike Kleinsmann, Dirk Snelders

The 22nd International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 2019), 5-8 August 2019, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands.. 2019 July; 1 10.1017/dsi.2019.310

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Ehsan Baha, Gray Dawdy, Nick Sturkenboom, Rebecca Anne Price, Dirk Snelders

The Design Research Society International Conference (DRS 2018) – Design as a catalyst for change, 25-28 June 2018, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.. 2018 June; 1 10.21606/dma.2017.648

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Ehsan Baha, Aylin Groenewoud, Koert van Mensvoort

The 4th Service Design and Innovation Conference (ServDes 2014), 9-11 April 2014, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.. 2014 April;

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Ehsan Baha, Dirk Snelders, Yuan Lu, Aarnout Brombacher

The 8th International Conference on Design and Semantics of Form and Movement (DeSForM 2013), 22-25 September 2013, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China. 2013 September;

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Ehsan Baha, Nick Sturkenboom, Yuan Lu, Bas Raijmakers

The 2nd Cambridge Academic Design Management Conference (CADMC 2013), 4-5 September 2013, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.. 2013 September;

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Nick Sturkenboom, Ehsan Baha, Yuan Lu, Gabriele Tempesta

The 3rd Participatory Innovation Conference (PIN-C 2013) – Participation as performace, 18-20 June 2013, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lahti, Finland.. 2013 June;

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Yuan Lu, Ehsan Baha

The 5th International Conference on Service Science and Innovation (ICSSI 2013), 29-31 May 2013, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.. 2013 May;

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Martien Vissers, Feng Wang, Ehsan Baha, Jun Hu, Matthias Rauterberg

The 2nd International Conference on Culture and Computing (C&C 2012), 21-24 October 2012, Hangzhou, China.. 2012 October; 3

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Mithra Zahedi, Tiiu Poldma, Ehsan Baha, Tim Haats

The 9th Conference on Engineering Design and Product Development (NordDesign 2012), 22-24 August 2012, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.. 2012 August;

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Ehsan Baha, Yuan Lu, Aarnout Brombacher, Koert van Mensvoort

The 9th Conference on Engineering Design and Product Development (NordDesign 2012), 22-24 August 2012, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.. 2012 August;

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Tilde Bekker, Yuan Lu, Ehsan Baha, Rene Berg, Jelmer Siekmans

Gerontechnology, ISG/ISARC. 2012 June; 11 (2):389-390 10.4017/gt.2012.11.02.658.00

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Yuan Lu, Ehsan Baha

The International Conference on Aging, Mobility and Quality of Life (AMQoL 2012), 24-26 June 2012, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. 2012 June;

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Oscar Tomico, Yuan Lu, Ehsan Baha, Paula Lehto, Tuija Hirvikoski

The 4th World Conference on Design Research (IASDR 2011) – Diversity and Unity, 31 October - 4 November 2011, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.. 2011 October; 4

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Boris De Ruyter, Ehsan Baha, Marten Pijl, Panos Markopoulos

2011 January; The Ergonomics Open Journal (4):1 10.2174/1875934301104010041

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