Michael Lye Email & Phone Number

I am a designer, researcher and educator centering on the interplay between people and the artifacts, systems and services in which we are all immersed. I utilize rigorous design methodologies to find innovative solutions to problems in healthcare and our everyday lives. I specialize in human-centered design with an emphasis on design research and creativity in complex, highly constrained domains.In my consulting practice I have worked work with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Brown University, University of Hawaii, and NASA, along with startups and established corporations. I specialize in human-centered design to leverage creative skills and approaches to improve the world around us.As Senior Critic and NASA Coordinator at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), I teach advanced courses in “Design for Extreme Environments”, using the unique constraints of extreme environments as a foundation for a design pedagogy. These courses allow engineers and scientists from NASA to collaborate with design students to develop novel concepts for spacecraft, habitats and life in space.My NASA Coordinator position affords me the opportunity to work outside of the classroom and find new avenues to influence NASA’s thinking on the role of design. I mentor RISD’s Rover Team in their participation with NASA’s Rover Challenge, allowing the students to better develop design thinking and making skills. Along with my degree in Industrial Design, I also studied physics at The Johns Hopkins University, have started two businesses, and builds things whenever I can. A believer in sparking interests in all learners, I participate in presentations at elementary schools through senior living centers. I also enjoy walking rescue dogs, getting my hands dirty working in shops and restoring old British sports cars. I am constantly learning and enjoy discovering new ways to understand the world. All of these experiences inform my work today.

Listed skills include Industrial Design, Model Making, Design Strategy, Design Thinking, and 9 others.