The High Academic Council of Shenkar has approved the recommendation of the Search Committee to nominate Maya Shmailov, Ph.D. as head of the Master Degree in Design (M.Des.) program at Shenkar.

Dr. Shmailov holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. degree in Science, Technology and Society (S.T.S), as well as a B.Sc. in Life Sciences. In addition. Dr. Shmailov is a patent attorney with a practice in patent and design laws specializing in complex inventions and advanced technologies as well as design driven innovation. The main fields of Dr. Shmailov’s academic research and expertise are compatible with the M.Des. program as approved by the Council of Higher Education (CHE): intersection of design, society and technology.

Her academic teaching experience spans over ten years within the faculties of engineering and architecture, urban planning at the continuing education unit of the Technion, in the master’s program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the College of Management, and at Bar Ilan University. She has published books researching discipline formations, interdisciplinarity and creativity, while also publishing chapters in a number of books within these fields of research. These published works as well as others, on a national and international levels, have been further presented in collaborations with artists, demonstrate her ability to manage her field of research, as required by the academic program and those that rely upon it.

Dr. Shmailov has presented professional activities and participation in national and international think-tank groups in the fields relevant to the M.Des. program. Dr. Shmailov has presented a vision for the program that relates to the preparation of the students in the program on the expected social, cultural, scientific and technological changes that are occurring in our world. Her worldview encapsulates the needed directional development of the graduate program, the strengthening of the interface between technology, society and design as well as inter- and trans-disciplinary studies.  This, with an emphasis on the creation of new bodies of knowledge in fields related to social networks, artificial intelligence, bio-design, and finally, the incorporation of the designer’s involvement in the community in light of the technological, environmental and sociological challenges of the 21st century.

Statement for Dr. Shmailov:

“Today, as we are all confronted with a changing and dizzying reality, it is time for each of us and in particular design practitioners to show up and blaze a trail which is required to restart many facets of our society towards a more egalitarian future. In order for the design practitioners to accomplish this, they need to sharpen their abilities to understand, communicate and exchange information with different cultures and disciplines. Such exchanges will enable evolution of the design language, a language that will borrow from and exchange with the disciplines studying pure sciences, technology, and society, which will lead to a new way of looking at, thinking about and progress in the world of design.

I am pleased and excited to be joining such a prestigious institution, to work alongside with some of the best lecturers and experts in the field of design and to get to know up-close, the talented students  in the program in order to support this necessary initialization and blazing of a new trail.

Statement from Professor Sheizaf Rafaeli, President of Shenkar:

I congratulate Dr. Shmailov as incoming head of the master in design (M.Des) program. Her wealth of experience in the fields of design, society, and technology stand alongside with the vision of Shenkar as a flagship international institution which combines activities among the engineering, art, and design faculties. I am certain that Dr. Shmailov will lend much to the program of study and network and am pleased that she is joining the Shenkar community.