Michael Lye

Senior Critic
Image
a black-and-white photo portrait of RISD faculty member Michael Lye
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design

Michael Lye is an industrial designer and educator teaching advanced studios and seminars at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He is currently senior critic and NASA coordinator and specializes in human-centered design with an emphasis on design research and analysis. He has extensive experience teaching interdisciplinary, partnered studios. Some partners include: NASA, Sikorsky Aircraft, Intel and Maytag. Since 2004 he has overseen Design for Extreme Environments, an advanced design studio in collaboration with NASA, where RISD students work with engineers and designers from Johnson Space Center to develop innovative concepts for future spacecraft and habitats. He was a designer and project manager for the Universal Kitchen Project, an award-winning re-examination of the home kitchen environment. Along with his degree in Industrial Design, he also studied physics at The Johns Hopkins University. He has lectured internationally on design for elders and currently holds nine patents in his name.

Academic areas of interest

Lye’s research interests include healthcare, transportation, universal, and socially responsible design. He is co-founder of eMotive – a collaboration between Brown University engineers and RISD designers to re-imagine the global future of personal transportation. eMotive combines the capabilities of design and engineering to address the need for sustainable mobility and create alternative modes of transportation. As project lead for the Business Innovation Factory’s Nursing Home of the Future program, he developed a platform to better understand the elder experience and engage those elders in an ongoing effort to directly drive innovation and improvements in their daily lives and residences. He co-directed the Healthcare Innovation Project, leveraging the skills of designers to create detailed visualizations of the patients’ experience with the primary care system in order to define the boundary constraints for improvements in healthcare. He currently works with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital to define better approaches to integrating technology into clinical and healthcare environments.

Courses

Wintersession 2024 Courses

ID 2452-101 - METAL II
Level Undergraduate
Unit Industrial Design
Subject Industrial Design
Period Wintersession 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ID 2452-101

METAL II

Level Undergraduate
Unit Industrial Design
Subject Industrial Design
Period Wintersession 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-01-04 to 2024-02-07
Times: MTW | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 02/05/2024 - 02/07/2024; MT | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/29/2024 - 01/30/2024; MTW | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/22/2024 - 01/24/2024; T | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/16/2024 - 01/16/2024; MTW | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM | 01/08/2024 - 01/10/2024 Instructor(s): Michael Lye Location(s): Industrial Design Building, Room 200 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The objective of this course is to develop a more precise, professional and sensitive approach to design while broadening the student's technical base. Precision machine tools such as metal lathes, millers and grinders will be introduced. Logical design and set-up approaches will be discussed. Outside design work will be required with emphasis on engineering drawing and sequence of operations. There will be a strong emphasis on experimenting with the material in order to promote innovative thinking and problem solving.

Preference is given to Junior Industrial Design Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

Spring 2024 Courses

ID 2452-01 - METAL II
Level Undergraduate
Unit Industrial Design
Subject Industrial Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ID 2452-01

METAL II

Level Undergraduate
Unit Industrial Design
Subject Industrial Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: M | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Michael Lye Location(s): Industrial Design Building, Room 201 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Closed

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The objective of this course is to develop a more precise, professional and sensitive approach to design while broadening the student's technical base. Precision machine tools such as metal lathes, millers and grinders will be introduced. Logical design and set-up approaches will be discussed. Outside design work will be required with emphasis on engineering drawing and sequence of operations. There will be a strong emphasis on experimenting with the material in order to promote innovative thinking and problem solving.

Preference is given to Junior Industrial Design Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

ID 24ST-07 - ADVANCED DESIGN: STUDIO
Level Undergraduate
Unit Industrial Design
Subject Industrial Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ID 24ST-07

ADVANCED DESIGN: STUDIO

Level Undergraduate
Unit Industrial Design
Subject Industrial Design
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: TTH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): Michael Lye Enrolled / Capacity: 15 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

The 6-credit Advanced Design studios offer second semester juniors and seniors the opportunity to investigate product, socially responsible, and sustainable design; innovation through science and technology and other topics in contemporary practice. These studios are designed to strengthen the student's ability to conduct research, ideation, material exploration, presentation, and concept validation. Studios meet two days per week. Junior and Senior Industrial Design Students are required to take a total of three (3) advanced studios.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Preference is given to Junior, Senior or Graduate Industrial Design Students.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design, MID (2.5yr): Industrial Design

Image
a black-and-white photo portrait of RISD faculty member Michael Lye
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design