Melissa Dawson

Melissa Dawson is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY USA, who earned a BS in Textiles & Apparel at Cornell University and a MS in Textile Design at Philadelphia University. Melissa has spent both her professional design and academic careers espousing the technological complexities of successful soft product design. Over the last several years, Melissa has used her experience to successfully integrate formal soft goods product design courses into RIT’s internationally-ranked Industrial Design undergraduate and graduate programs through the creation of RIT Soft Studio. Melissa’s scholarship interests include RIT Soft Studio’s Abracemos lo Nuestro Project, which empowers traditional Paraguayan textile artisans with design strategies to encourage innovation in new product applications. Melissa is currently on the Fulbright Specialist roster and working on her PhD in Textile Science & Engineering.