Field of Study USA: Design

Driptaa Chakraborty

Driptaa Chakraborty is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, where she double-majored in architecture and mathematical sciences. She is interested in computational methodologies across design practices. She has worked as a research assistant for Dr. Lavender Tessmer at Clemson University where she helped design a computer simulation process by which knitting machines can be used as fabrication instruments to manufacture multilayer, multi-material objects that do not require human assemblage. Her work with Dr. Tessmer helped her formulate the proposal for her Fulbright project. Driptaa is also interested in analyzing computational tools from a historical and social perspective. Her senior capstone project studied, modeled, and contextualized early computational models in the development of neighborhoods in 1970s Navi Mumbai. During her time at Washington University, Driptaa received the James W. Fitzgibbon Scholarship in Architecture, which is a full tuition grant to one architecture student per graduating class, while her research was supported by the Academic Year Undergraduate Research Award.

Patan Patola, one of India’s most complex fabrication processes, is a weaving technique which first requires encoding a design onto individual yarns. Driptaa’s Fulbright-Nehru project is studying Patan Patola to develop an interactive algorithmic tool for weavers. The tool will predict final Patola motifs from intermediate stages and also catch potential errors. The research will not only contribute to preserving the craft but will also help designers use such textile fabrication techniques across design practices.

Emily Yang

Ms. Emily Yang is a Brooklyn-based artist, educator, and researcher. She holds a master’s degree in design engineering from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) and teaches at the New School’s Parsons School of Design in New York City. Ms. Yang’s work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Yale School of Architecture, the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition in London, and the Harvard GSD Kirkland Gallery. She completed block print and ceramic residencies from the Penland School of Craft, the Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. Her academic and professional interests center on preserving historical craft knowledge as a means of navigating uncertain futures of labor, and fostering cross-cultural exchange through participatory design. Her work has been published and presented at design education conferences, and she continues to develop experimental methods that integrate traditional craft with contemporary design research.

Ms. Yang’s Fulbright-Nehru project is exploring Indian block printing as both a cultural tradition and as a speculative design methodology. Based at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, she is collaborating with artisans and students through participatory design workshops that integrate traditional craft with design research. Her project aims to develop an innovative, culturally grounded pedagogy that preserves historical craft knowledge while imagining future roles for labor and making. By merging qualitative research with collaborative making, the project is fostering cross-cultural dialogue and expanding interdisciplinary design education rooted in care, community, and cultural sustainability.

Abiola Makinde

Ms. Abiola Makinde is a Nigerian-American woman from Lagos and South Florida. As a recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design, she completed a senior thesis centered around Sickle Cell and Pain Management. As an Emergency Design Council Fellow she collaborated with designers from the IDC School of Design and the National Institute of Design in researching and designing solutions to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of children in India. Ms. Makinde has also served as a Design Educator for high school students in an after-school program, which focused on the fundamentals and importance of collaborating in the design thinking process.

Ms. Makinde’s Fulbright-Nehru project is examining research design solutions to extend culturally relevant and adaptable hospital and home tools and services for Indian children with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and their caretakers past the hospital and into their homes before and after visits. With the support of Prof. Ravi Poovaiah of The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and Dr. Yazdi Italia of the Shirin and Jamshed Guzder Regional Blood Centre, her intention is to understand the patient’s journey and challenge points to find ways, through the lens of design, to positively affect the overall experience of the patient and the caregiver.