Full-Time Faculty
Leslie Speer, ChairÂ
Leslie Speer is a designer and educator with over 20 years experience working for companies and clients in the U.S., Europe, Central America and Mexico, such as Dupont, Philips, Oracle/Sun Microsystems, Frog Design, the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture, Banamex and various non-governmental organizations.
She is the founder and director of the Simple Limb Initiative, a collective that designs, develops and tests low cost upper and lower limb prosthesis. Speer has held academic positions at the California College of the Arts and San José State University and is a guest lecturer at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris and at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts in China. She received a bachelor's degree in industrial design from California State University at Long Beach, and a master's in product design, innovation and management (MDES) from Middlesex University, U.K.
Jenna FryeÂ
Jenna Frye’s creative work and ideas about educating artists have been showcased nationally and at several annual conferences including the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design and The College Art Association. She is Assistant Department Chair of First Year Experience at MICA where she also serves as Coordinator of the Electronic Media and Culture program and founded the college's first dedicated foundation student Maker Space: The Make Cool Stuff Lab. You're likely to find her designing nerdy toys and games for her students to learn with, fiddling with the latest techno-crafts or maybe just playing with blocks. She teaches the Design for Play: Toy Workshop in the department and maker type courses in FYE. Jenna holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology as well as an MA in digital art and an MFA in sculpture.
Juan Noguera
Juan Carlos Noguera is an Industrial/Product Designer, he holds a Masters of Industrial Design (MID) from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and a Bachelors of Industrial design (BID) from Universidad Rafael Landivar, in Guatemala city. A native Guatemalan, he was raised in a colorful and vivid culture. He quickly developed an interest in how things were made, tearing everything he owned apart, and putting it back together, often with a few leftover pieces. After graduation and a succession of projects related to design for development, Juan was chosen as a Fulbright fellow for the class of 2013 by the U.S. Department of State. He went on to be the lead designer for Voxel8, helping create the world’s first 3D Electronics printer. Juan was awarded as one of MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators under 35” LATAM in 2017.Â
Mark Colton
Mark Colton is a creative, high energy designer with 14 years of experience developing products with a focus on improving the interaction between users and their environment. Specialized in model making, industrial design, cad modeling and design development in the areas of consumer electronics, medical devices and cycling equipment.
Andrew Dahlgren
Andrew Dahlgren is a designer, organizer, maker and teacher. He studied industrial design as an undergraduate at North Carolina State University's College of Design and in graduate school at the University of the Arts' Master of Industrial Design program. Outside of his formal education, Andrew has worked as a wood worker and metal fabricator. He has produced custom furniture, architectural specialities, art work, taking on each step of the process from designer to producer to project manager. Andrew teaches our social innovation and entrepreneurship workshops. Outside of teaching Andrew has been involved with organizing several projects and events: Philly Works, Made in Philly, and Urban Studio. These projects focus on helping independent designers and makers gain exposure for their work and expanding the audiences who have access to design. When not teaching and creating events Andrew develops products for his own home furnishings product line.
Mike DoughertyÂ
With a Masters in Industrial Design from Cranbrook and a Masters in Architecture from Tulane, Mike has combined his background to create positive solutions in the built environment of Baltimore. With a family history in higher-education & the building trades, his career is based on the notion that the reunion of planning & execution can integrate processes, grow competencies, inform creativity & help improve the built environment. His long career in the military brings an extra added "can do" perspective to the studio.
Jesse HillÂ
Jesse is a product and furniture designer and currently Principal and Owner of Hill Studio, a furniture, lighting, and product design studio located in Baltimore, MD. Prior to running his own studio, he was the first internal furniture/ product designer to work at Herman Miller, while there he worked on and supported all categories, from seating to systems and healthcare. Through his career, Jesse has worked for Stanley, Black and Decker in Baltimore, Quirky, and Prime Studio in NYC, and Hasbro in RI. His current client list ranges from Herman Miller, Nike, Google, Facebook, Kichler, Byrne, and others. His process is about reflection, discovery, curiosity, provocation, and constantly pressing to find better paths or solutions. Jesse wants to use design to impact lives and better the world as best he can, to deliver thoughtful, rational solutions to the everyday in an attempt to simplify lives and bring people closer.
Julie Naga
As a user-centered designer who claims to be able to get along with nearly anyone, Julie has spent her career arguing. Arguing to have user needs be the top design priority with program managers and technical staff. Advocating human centered solutions ranging from military helmet designs, special operations aircraft systems and personal communications gear to government IT systems. Doing this work with Booz Allen Hamilton over the past 13 years has given her a rich understanding of design and research techniques for a wide range of clients. Julie's work can be traced by the evolution of her career identity - from user centered product designer to army maintenance officer to human factors psychologist to human systems integration (HSI) analyst to a user experience (UX) strategist to design thinking facilitator. The common link has always been user advocacy based and he is excited to see what she will be called next. Moving forward, Julie still hopes for a world where everything can be used intuitively without directions, where every device’s unsightly wiring is unseen and where she arrives early for all meetings, kids sporting and scouting events.
Jessica Searfino
Jessica is a Senior Industrial Design 3D Specialist at Stanley Black and Decker, where she designs professional power tools for the DEWALT brand. Outside of her work, she has instructed at regional makerspaces ( Open Works and The Foundery) provided technical support at digital fabrication labs and assisted in the design of a range of products. One of her most notable projects is public sculpture design for Light City Baltimore; America’s first large-scale festival of art, music and innovation.
Sarah Templin
Sarah Templin is a Baltimore- and New York-based industrial and material designer who specializes in reimagining material applications for housewares, soft goods and lighting. Her designs have garnered the attention of Fast Company, Dwell, Print Magazine, and the New York Times and has won awards from Core 77 and Autodesk. She is part time faculty of product design at Parsons School of Design (NY) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MD) as well as the founder and principal of Radica Textiles, a line of hand screen printed textiles and housewares that catered to architecture and interiors firms during its years of operation, from 2008 to 2016. Â
Her background in material and softgoods design and over a decade of experience in museum exhibition design, installation and curatorial work shape her distinct approach. In her free time, she creates Situationist Seating.
Jarica Nowlin, Administrative Assistant
Jarica Nowlin is an experienced graphic designer and digital marketer. Jarica has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Baltimore in Computer Science and a minor in Communications. She has experience working with various companies such as Groove commerce, South Moon Under, and Oogie Solutions LLC.Â
Tim DevoeÂ
Timothy DeVoe is an artist working in the media of sculpture, installation and interactive art. Tim received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has exhibited work internationally as well as across the continental United States.
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