With a 43-year academic career, I was a driving force and one of the founders of the Institute for Research in Design, Media and Culture [ID+] in 2008, being its director since then (until Feb 2024). I recently retired (Jan 2024), but I continue to carry out design research at ID+ as a visiting professor at the University of Aveiro [UA], where I was Full Professor (2020-23), Associate Professor (2004-20) and Assistant Professor (1997-2004).
I studied Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD, 1997; MSc, 1987; BSc, 1978 at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto) and Arts (BA, 1981-89 at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the same university).
I began my career at an engineering school (Polytechnic Institute of Porto, 1981-97), but my interest in the arts led me to accept invitations from both the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto to develop the first CAAD curricular unit (1988-92, 1999-2004) and the University of Aveiro to start a new area of education and research in Design from scratch. As co-founder of the Design area in the Dep. of Communication and Art at the UA (1995), I was co-author of all its early curricular developments, having coordinated almost all the Design programs (PhD, MA’s, BA’s) offered by the UA.
The following collaborations are also worth mentioning: Portuguese Design Council (CPD) as consultant and member of the advisory board (1999-2010); Creative Industries Development Agency (ADDICT) executive board (2010) and vice-president (2011-14); Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES) for design programs evaluation (since 2011); FCT evaluation panels for PhD Studentships applications (2003-21); European Academy of Design (Executive Committee Member between 2001 and 2009); Editorial Advisory board of some international magazines in the area of Design (The Design Journal, The ‘Radical’ Designist: Journal of Design Culture, I+DISEÑO).