Dr. Debashis Majumder

With over 30 years of professional experience, Debashis is a distinguished Industrial Designer, Industry Expert, and Transportation and Mobility Design Faculty. He holds a PhD in Design from UPES, a master's in industrial design (M.Des.) from the National Institute of Design (NID, Ahmedabad), and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering (BE). He also completed a PGP in Strategic Management from IIM Kashipur. Debashis imparts his comprehensive expertise in end-to-end design processes, creative design experiences, technological knowledge, and Design Management to his students.

Debashis commenced his career as a design engineer with IIT, Mumbai, specializing in Office Furniture Design and collaborating with Steelcase, USA. He contributed to Appliance Product Design at Godrej & Boyce, collaborated with M/s Lista, Switzerland at Voltas, and designed Earth Moving equipment and road machinery at Tata Motors in partnership with M/s Hitachi Corporation, Japan. His journey further encompassed computer-aided industrial design, notably at multinational companies like Ciyent, Quest, and EDS, spanning Europe and North America. He served as Design Head at prominent companies including Mahindra Defense (with BAE Systems, Sweden) and TIL (with Manitowoc Inc., USA) before entering academia.

Debashish's research interests span his diverse work experiences, encompassing Furniture Design, Domestic Appliances Design, Heavy and Military Vehicle Design, Public Transport and Special Purpose Vehicle Design, Cognitive Psychology in Transportation Design, Aesthetics and Ergonomic Development, and Design Research in specialized domains like disability, inaccessibility, high performance, and automation. He emphasizes the economic aspects of design, trend analysis, and strategic design management to fulfil future societal requirements.

Debashis believes design is a multi-disciplinary field, underscoring the importance of diverse subjects for effective design. He emphasizes foundational skill courses such as sketching, rendering, and CAD modelling, advocating high levels of research interest and communication skills to distinguish outstanding designers. Passion, hard work, and mentorship play pivotal roles in fostering successful design students.

Debashis imparts a wide array of courses, including Design Process, Design Research Methodology, Transportation & Mobility Design Projects, Design Management, Vehicle Packaging, Self-driving Vehicle, Simple Mobility Design Projects, Environmental Sustainability and Mass Transport Projects, Understanding Design and Design Process, and Graduation Project (mentorship).

Debashis has been consistently recognized for his scholarly contributions. He received the Best Paper Award at the `DC Colloquium’ (Design Conference), 2019 organized by UPES. His exceptional work was acknowledged with the Best Paper Award at ICIPDIMS, organized by NIT Rourkela, in 2019, followed by consecutive Best Paper Awards in IPDIMS in 2020 and 2021. His expertise was showcased as he was felicitated as a special speaker and judge at HWWE 2022. Debashis's active involvement extended to serving as a technical judge for IPDIMS in 2020 and 2021. He established a private limited company, '66 Libra Design Pvt Ltd,' under the UPES Runway system. His reputation as a subject matter expert-led to an invitation as a special speaker by the National Incubation Foundation (Govt of India) for a program on product design. Debashis's commitment to innovative research is evident through his role as the principal investigator for numerous seed fund projects at UPES. His achievements also encompass receiving the 'Poster Competition' award at the Young Researchers Conclave organized by UPES in 2023.

Debashis earned his PhD in Design for his research on 'Amphibious Vehicle' from UPES, publishing numerous research papers in Scopus-indexed journals. He presented at international conferences like IPDIMS, HWWE, and DC Colloquium. He holds Design Registrations and Seed Fund Grants for incubated projects, actively fostering industry connections and student practical experiences.

dmajumder@ddn.upes.ac.in