John Takamura

Bringing over 20-years of industrial design and branding practice experience, Dr. John Takamura has been instrumental in implementing brand and advanced product development programs in both Asia and North America. With a major in industrial design, John received his BA in design from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and furthered his studies at Art Center Pasadena. He received his Master of Science in Design degree in Human Factors in industrial design from Arizona State University and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in sustainability at the School of Sustainability in the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University. John is currently an Associate Professor of Industrial Design in The Design School at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University where he teaches both 3+ and 2-yr MID (Master of Industrial Design) studio courses and MSD (Master of Science in Design degree) design research courses. John is active in developing corporate sponsored university research, industrial design, and branding programs within various consumer product and service industries. John has worked with the American Indian Policy Institute at ASU in teaching classes on American Indian Entrepreneurship for Sustainability where he focused on Innovation and Branding. John also had served as Director of Design for GlobalResolve™, a social entrepreneurship program at the Fulton School of Engineering where he is responsible for ethnographic research and design programs for products and services intended for the BoP (Base of the Pyramid) market in the developing world and has been a Senior Sustainability Scientist at the ASU Global Institute for Sustainability since 2014. John has served as Coordinator for the Master of Science in Design (MSD) program since 2013. John was a member of the TeamLA Leadership Academy Cohort III from 2017-2018 focused of Creative Health Solutions where he brought his expertise in innovation and entrepreneurship to the context of health, the arts, design, and humanities to serve greater Phoenix. John held the post of Assistant Director of Research for The Design School at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts 2017-2020. John currently holds the position of Director for the PhD in Design, Environment, and the Arts program at the ASU Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. John’s research and creative activities are at the nexus of Design, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in the context of Social Sustainability. Dr. Takamura is experienced in ethnographic research and design for the BoP (Base of the Pyramid) market and focuses on Indigenizing Sustainable Entrepreneurship for Social Innovation.