At UID24, students will unveil their final concepts through live on-stage talks, models, and prototypes. Converging at the event, the MFA programmes in product-, interaction-, and transportation design, along with the BFA programme in industrial design, represent a rich tapestry of creativity.
For our online audience, we present a live broadcast and a packed digital gallery showcasing groundbreaking grad projects. At UID24, guests from near and far will gain an exclusive glimpse into each student’s transformative journey as they present their final design proposals.
This year's theme – SYNERGIES – emanated from our graduating students. It embodies collaboration, cross-pollination of ideas, and the interconnectedness of design ecosystems. Throughout this spring semester, our student design studios become laboratories for exploration and experimentation, inviting openness and transparency across processes and programmes. With design-through-making an ever-present mantra, we believe in the magic of playfulness.
UID24 will host talks with invited special guests Yoko Sen (Sen Sound) and Martin Willers (Transparent). Our esteemed speakers will also join the closing panel discussion on May 29.
Yoko Sen is the founder of Sen Sound, a sound design studio whose mission is to transform sound experience in hospitals through human centered design. Yoko has a background as a classically trained electronic musician, and as a patient who experienced the hospital noise issue firsthand. She has served as a Citizen Artist Fellow at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as an Artist-In-Residence at Johns Hopkins Sibley Innovation Hub, Stanford Medicine X, and KP Innovation, and as a keynote speaker for conferences internationally, including TEDMED and Aspen Ideas Festival. Sen Sound’s work to improve sound design with hospitals and medical device companies has been recognized by The Red Dot Design Award (Best of the Best, 2023), The UX Design Awards (Gold, 2023), The International Design Excellence Awards (Bronze, 2023; Finalist, 2020), and Open IDEO’s End of Life Challenge (Top Idea, 2016).
Martin Willers is the co-founder and CEO of Transparent, an modular home audio brand recognized in some of the worlds most curated retail channels. After studies in Umeå he co-founded design consultancy People People, now part of Doberman EY. Martin has a strong foundation in sustainable design, demonstrated by his work as editor of the Swedish Design Sustainability Guide and involvement in setting sustainability guidelines for Kickstarter design and tech projects. Currently, he contributes expertise to the EU Circpass project, advocating for digital product passports (DPP) to advance circularity in the EU by 2030. Martin’s approach reflects a commitment to impact entrepreneurship and design thinking within the tech industry.