Facilitators

Elina Lehikoinen

My name is Elina, and my field of expertise is in water engineering and partly on the grass-root level of sanitation. I’ve been very privileged to travel around the world, and working with water related issues in remote villages in Africa and jungles in Central-America. When travelling and meeting new people, I just love to observe what are their daily routines, how they see their community and its value, and finally how they experience the life and world. Visiting the El 20 de Noviembre has been one of my travelling highlights, and I’m very eager to see the work continue through ALM2015.

Anni Hapuoja

I’ve apparently become addicted to Aalto LAB, since this will be my second time to participate 😉 I was born in Finland, but I’ve had the chance to also live in Brazil, Indonesia and Spain. Travels have taken me to dozens of exciting places around the world, and I’ve had the chance to take part in multicultural projects in South Africa, Benin, Brazil, China, and various countries in Europe. Travelling is definitely a passion of mine, because despite the destination, it always freshens my perspective of the world. I believe that even the smallest actions towards environmental sustainability can make this world a better place, just as long as everyone shares the same mindset of awareness and responsibility. Life is short, but good design solutions can outlive us all.

Areli Maciel

Hello, my name is Areli Maciel; with a scholarship burse for researchers of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT), I graduated from the Postgraduate Programme in Industrial Design at UNAM, where I specialized in the area of technology and focused on the development of sustainable design and energy. I believe that if we focus in the construction of co-design and co-participation projects through interdisciplinary work, we could reach a behavior that could provoke changes in cultural, social, political and economic fields; and through that, design will be transformed into an agent of change. I co-founded “DYA” (Design Your Action), an NGO that bases its function on the principles of participatory design and the pursuit of sustainability. I´m really happy to collaborate in this project because it demonstrates that design can be strengthened and become more powerful if we work together pursuing the goal of common welfare and the collective learning.

Gregory A. Perez

Senior Design Lead at IDEO in Shanghai, China. He describes his job like this, “I’m working with clients around the Asia region to help create simple, imaginative, human-centered solutions from complex problems and creating social impact with design.” Greg has been part of Aalto LAB from its beginning in Shanghai in 2010, where he performed as the lead facilitator. He kindly joined Aalto LAB Mexico in 2012, he travelled to Mexico and took the whole team step by step (together with Hei, and assisted by Susu and Anni). The work in the field was based on through IDEO’s Human Centered Design Toolkit, but of course, improvisation was needed from time to time.

Hei Cheng

Hei is a senior communication designer at IDEO Shanghai. He has been part of Aalto LAB since its first edition in Shanghai. He took our call and travelled to Mexico to work with Greg, Anni, and Claudia again and to help a new team of LABBERS go through the experience of the LAB. Hei is an amazing story teller who knows how to communicate with other people despite the cultural and language barriers.

Claudia Garduño

During my MA studies in Aalto University, I participated in Aalto LAB Shanghai, belonging to the very first team of LABBERS. I saw so much potential in it that I got the crazy idea of taking Aalto LAB to Mexico, and making it the case study of my doctoral work “Design as Freedom”. I’m still surprised, honoured and thankful that so many people supported the idea and are making it happen. Throughout the way I’ve been an exchange student in the Postgraduate in Industrial Design in the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and I founded an alumni association in Monterrey Institute of Technology (Tec CCM) ‘DEDESS’.

Lucero de la Huerta

For me the experience of  life is about  sharing and having fun. I love working in teams meeting people and learning from them. By the moment I am studying in the Postgraduate Programme in the Industrial Design at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) with a research project called “Design as an Agent of Change”.  I had experience as a designer in POP, exhibitions for museums, commercial and domestic furniture, craft workshops and also teaching arts to kids. In this moment I am willing to find out how my experience could connect with my interest about sustainability.

Sandra Viña

Doctoral candidate in design at Aalto ARTS. She has experience in sustainable constructions in Venezuela. In Aalto LAB Mexico 2013, she will assess the LABBERS’ work before and during the field. During the fieldtrip, she will assist Alastaid Fuad-Luke in the Co-design workshops. She will also document the seminar’s sessions in order to write an article in collaboration with the team. More importantly, Sandra expects to take Aalto LAB to Venezuela in 2014.

Xaviera Sánchez de la Barquera

I´m an Industrial Designer, skilled during my first years of professional practice in museology, development of commercial furniture, and interior design. I have collaborated in the development of projects looking for reduced environmental impact in these areas, as well as projects with a social sense as the “International Living Values Education Program” for UNICEF. I recently graduated at the Postgraduate Programme of Industrial Design at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) with the research project “The Rhetoric of Sustainability and Practice of Design. The Case of Consultancies in Mexico and Finland”. During 2012 I was an exchange student in “Creative Sustainability ” at Aalto University, period in which I participate in projects focused on social innovation and sustainability. Currently I´m Co-founder of “DYA – Design Your Action”, an NGO that bases its function on the principles of participatory design with the aim of developing in a collaborative way, quality of life and social welfare. I feel very excited to collaborate again with Aalto LAB Mexico in this next stage.