Don Carr

School of Design

Professor

Don Carr portrait.

116 Smith Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244




Don Carr is a professor of design.

At Syracuse University he has served as chair of the Meredith Professorship Committee and Interdisciplinary Design Spire; University Senator, University Senate, faculty representative; chair and committee member of the Tenure and Promotion Committees; committee member, University-wide Interdisciplinary Committees; and on the NASAD Committee.

Carr also serves on the DCC (Disability and Cultural Center) Advisory Board, the Blackstone LaunchPad e-roundtable, and is an affiliate faculty member of the Aging Studies Institute. Carr is also a founding member of the Adaptive Design Association Syracuse and co-founder of the Central New York Biomimicry regional network.

Education

  • M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art
  • B.F.A., Rochester Institute of Technology

Selected Exhibitions

  • Second Skin, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei
  • Second Skin, Vitra Design Museum, Germany
  • Skin, Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, New York City
  • Mutating Material, Museum of Modern Art, New York City
  • Metropolis Magazine: Good Offices and Beyond, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York City
  • WOOspace, International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), New York City
  • Graduate Design, American Center for Design, Chicago
  • Mondo Materials, Sponsored by Steelcase, Grand Rapids, Mich.
  • InProduction, Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Selected Publications

  • Published Articles
    • Artbyte (9/1999) “Digital Clay” by Don Carr
    • Innovation Summer (1994) “Reclaiming the Soul of the Synthetic Object” by Don Carr, Alex Subrisi, and William Faust
  • Books
    • What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections on Design by Peter-Paul Verbeek, Boom Publishers, Amsterdam, 2000
    • IF/Then Play by Janet Abrams. Long Lake lll: Toys vs. Tools, Netherland Design Institute, Amsterdam, 1999
  • Periodicals
    • 2001 PetitGlam Future Interior, WOOspace, pgs 68-76
    • 2000 FID, Future of Industrial Design: Korean Design Magazine; Don Carr, Inventor of Advanced Concepts, pgs 74-79
    • 2000 Flaunt 9/2000 Future Heros, pgs 104-109
    • 1999 Business Week 6/7/1999 Winner 1999, The Best Product Designs of the Year
    • 1999 Wallpaper 7/1999 NYC Brights pg 115
    • 1999 Interior Design 7/1991 Market pg 72
    • 1999 Innovation The Yearbook of Industrial Design Excellence, Fall Off the Beaten Path, the Trail Tag System pgs 122-125
    • 1999 Metropolis 10/1999 All’s Fair: International Contemporary Furniture Fair Review pgs 124-125
    • 1996 ID Magazine Annual Design Review, Biofeedback Snowboard
    • 1996 ID Magazine Annual Design Review, Signpost 101
    • 1995 ID Magazine, ID Forty
    • 1994 ID Magazine Annual Design Review, Palm Mouse
    • 1992 ID Magazine Annual Design Review, Ithaca Color Printer
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Awards and Honors

  • 2018 Core77 Design Awards  Design Concept Award, Amber Waves
  • 2011 Continuum + Arthur Pulos Award for innovation in interdisciplinary design education, Syracuse University
  • 2008 Invited Juror, IDSA International Design Excellence Awards, Furniture and Graduate Student Design, Washington, D.C.
  • 2006 Design Educator Honor, Design Intelligence Report, Named one of Most Admired Industrial Design Educators
  • 2005 Guest Critic, Design Institutes “Design Camp” sponsored by Target, Minneapolis, Minn.
  • 2003 IDEA Bronze Award, Syracuse University Synergy Laboratory, SU, IDSA, Industrial Design Excellence Awards
  • 2000 Nomination, Chrysler Design Award, Designer of the Year Award
  • 1999 IDEA Gold Award, Trail Tags, Carr+Lamb , IDSA, Industrial Design Excellence Awards
  • 1999 ICFF, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, NYC, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1999 Editor’s Choice Award, WOO Lighting and Textiles, Carr+Lamb, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1998 Patagonia “Q=E” International Design Competition, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1998 Bronze Award, Trail Tags, Carr+Lamb, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1997 IDEA Bronze Award, Biofeedback Snowboard, Carr+Lamb, IDSA, Industrial Design Excellence Awards
  • 1996 Design Distinction Award, Biofeedback Snowboard, Carr+Lamb, ID Magazine Annual Review
  • 1996 Design Distinction Award, Signpost 101, NCR Corporation, ID Magazine Annual Review
  • 1995 Invited Juror, ID Magazine, Annual Design Review, NYC
  • 1995 Honorable Mention, Biomimicry, NCR Corporation
  • 1995 Selected to ID Forty, ID Magazine, Annual Award to Top International Designers
  • 1995 IDEA Gold Award, Signpost 101, NCR Corporation, IDSA, Industrial Design Excellence Awards
  • 1994 Design Distinction Award, Palm Mouse, NCR Corporation, ID Magazine Annual Review
  • 1994 American Center for Design and Fortune Magazine, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1994 Beacon Award, Corporate Design Excellence, NCR Corporation, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1993 Silver Award, Palm Mouse, NCR Corporation, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1992 Honorable Mention, Ithaca Color Printer, NCR Corporation, ID Magazine Annual Review
  • 1991 Silver Award, Personal Mediator, NCR Corporation, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1991 Mondo Materials, Sponsored by Steelcase, LG Electronics International Design Competition, Korea
  • 1989 IDEA Silver Award, Fire Extinguisher, Carr+Lamb, IDSA, Industrial Design Excellence Awards
  • 1989 IF Industrie Forum Design Hannover, Germany,
  • 1989 Award for Industrial Design, Interactive Video Terminal, NCR Corporation

Grants

  • 2018 CALS (Classroom as Lab for Sustainability) DES 400/600 Sustainability Design Elective- Tiny House
  • 2017 ARPA-E  Micro-Environmental Control System
  • 2008, Founder, “Golden Mean Lecture Series”, Syracuse University. VPA lecture series to promote connections between design, business and society. Kauffman Foundation Grant
  • 2007, Coordinator, “Transportation Distribution Analysis,” Motorola Funded Project
  • 2006, Coordinator, “Consumer Behavioral Research,” LG Electronics Funded Project
  • 2003, Coordinator, “Retail Shopping Experience,” Symbol Technologies Funded Project
  • 1998, Coordinator, “Medical Diagnostic Equipment,” Welch Allyn Funded Project
  • 1990-92, Recipient, “Design Research,” Cranbrook Academy of Art, NCR: MFA Education Grant

Lectures, Panels and Workshops

  • 2018 IMLS National Forum “Designing Future Library Leaders”
  • 2016 SSA Changing the Landscape: Creative Approaches to Healthy Aging
  • 2008, Guest Presenter, “Focus the Nation,” nationwide event on global warming, SU
  • Panel Moderator, “Creators vs. Consumer,” the Rhetoric Conference,
  • Reality & Reformation of Intellectual Property Law & Policy, SU
  • 2007, Guest Presenter, NYS Youth Invention Convention, Albany, N.Y.
  • 2005, Guest Presenter, Design Institute, 6 Pines Education Summit with Target, Minneapolis
  • Co-Chair, IDSA NE District Regional Conference, SU
  • 2003, Guest Presenter, Cranbrook Academy of Art Lecture Series, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.
  • Guest Presenter, IDSA Designabout Conference, Guggenheim Museum, New York City
  • 2002, Workshop Presenter, “Designing the User Experience,” High Ground Education Workshop, Buena Vista, Colo.
  • 2000, Guest Presenter, Design Lecture Series, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh
  • Guest Presenter, “Design,” Student Factors Design Conference, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
  • Guest Presenter, “The Future of I.D.,” American Center for Design, Burlington, Vt.
  • 1998-00, Co-Founder, Long Lake Design Camp l, ll & lll, Long Lake, N.Y.