Smart Design

Carla Diana enjoys living as close to the near future as possible. As Associate Director of Interaction Design at Smart Design, her projects include domestic robots, mobile devices and sentient kitchen appliances. In her practice, she combines experience in industrial and interaction design to create solutions that bridge the gap between the physical and the digital.

She has completed an Open Studio Residency at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York. She currently leads the Smart Interaction Lab, an initiative focused on design explorations in the form of tinkering and hands-on experimentation around topics such as expressive objects, digital making, and virtual presence.

She has taught and lectured internationally, most recently at SVA and at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she was the creative director for the iconic humanoid robot, Simon. Carla holds a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering from The Cooper Union and an MFA in 3D Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art. In 2008, the New York Times Magazine referred to her as an “alpha geek”.

Follow her on Twitter: @carladiana_