Melissa Dawson
Associate Professor
UG Program Director
Industrial Design | RIT Soft Studio
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY USA

I have dedicated my life and career to
studying, teaching, and promoting
textiles & soft product design.

Upon completing my M.S., I spent eight years working in the textile & soft product design industry. Working as a designer for a manufacturer, vendor, and retailer has allowed me to learn and experience the textile and soft product design industry from all sides. My most influential college professors had industry experience, so my intention was always to work in industry for several years before eventually returning to academia.

I joined Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) as an adjunct in 2014 to help gauge industrial design (ID) students’ interest in adding soft product design courses to a traditional ID curriculum. I have grown one initial exploratory class into RIT Soft Studio, a collection of courses with designated studio space & specialty equipment. These courses explore soft product design topics in the third & fourth-year undergraduate and graduate levels in RIT’s internationally-ranked industrial design programs. 

My RIT scholarship includes creating and developing RIT Soft Studio pedagogy and expanding RIT UnWasted, which explores designing with and creating climate-positive materials through circular economies and valorization of uncommon fiber sources and waste streams. I am a Fulbright Specialist and pursuing my Ph.D. studies in Textile Engineering & Sciences at Thomas Jefferson University.