Kowalski previously held positions as an instructor of record and teaching assistant at Cornell University. He is also a contract designer for Powell Lacrosse in Chittenango, New York, and served as a senior designer at Brownlie Design in Skaneateles, New York, and a footwear designer at New Balance in Boston.

Kowalski has a background in product design. His research interests center on the psychological and behavioral factors relevant to greater sustainability in the product design and consumption process. He is co-author of “I love it, I’ll never use it: Exploring factors of product attachment and their effects on sustainable product usage behaviors” in International Journal of Design and has exhibited his work in “Footwear by School of Design Alumni” at the School of Design’s Sue and Leon Genet Gallery and in “Regeneration: Fine Woodworkers Under 30” at Messler Gallery, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, in Rockport, Maine.

At Cornell, Kowalski co-authored a successful College of Human Ecology Faculty Sustainability Research Award grant application with and served as graduate research assistant to JungKyoon Yoon, Ph.D. (PI), for research work on the connection between human behavior, design, and environmental sustainability. Kowalski received multiple fellowships and scholarships from Cornell to support his Ph.D. dissertation research.

Kowalski’s awards include two silver Medical Design Excellence Awards, a platinum ABBY Award for Innovation in Healthcare and an award of merit in the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge.

He holds a Ph.D. in human behavior and design and an M.A. in sustainable design studies from Cornell University. He earned a B.I.D. in industrial and interaction design at Syracuse University.

Education

• Ph.D., Cornell University
• M.A., Cornell University
• B.I.D., Syracuse University