MIT Institute of Design

Faculty Team

Associate Prof. Kuntal De

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Kuntal De

Associate Prof. Kuntal De


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By training Kuntal is an Industrial Designer from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

He started his career in Handicrafts, working at the Outreach programme of the NID in 1998. He is interested in ICT applications in education and general systems theory; he continued his work in sustainable development and systems design while at Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAIICT) as an assistant professor. His interests encouraged him to work with agriculture (as a consultant to Global Forum for Agricultural Research, FAO), livelihood and sustenance (As a consultant to UNDP and Commonwealth of Learning), and as a facilitator with Oxfam International Youth Partnership (OIYP). Kuntal has worked with several National and International organizations across the globe in making schools, developing skill and livelihood training programme and grassroot level innovation.

In the recent past he has been working with women empowerment, community engagement and developing responsive skills for climate change mitigation, particularly amongst youth. As an industrial Designer, he has designed Reverse Vending Machines and floating plastic collectors in for Renewoceans, a pledge non-profit involved in cleaning rivers and oceans in Southeast Asia.

For last 25 years he has been teaching and mentoring in several Institutions, both National and International such as the National Institute of Design, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok. He has been a consultant to United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Programme (FAO), Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Vancouver, Canada, and Young Professionals for Agricultural Research and Development (YPARD), Southeast Asia Research Centre, Soka University, Tokyo

Important Projects:

  • Developing the shelters for Onges in Andamans after the Tsunami
  • Developing wasteland management model through pear cactus fruit harvesting in Jasdan, Gujarat
  •  Developing an Education for Sustainable Development with Commonwealth of Learning, UNESCO, and Centre for Environment Education
  •  Design lead for Renewoceans, a pledge non-profit for developing plastic collectors and reverse vending machines.
  • Developing a business model based on technology mediated learning (through mobile application) of digital financial literacy for the Banking Correspondent agents (BCAs) with the National Institute of Banking Management, Pune
  •  Designing a community training programme for attaining resiliency against climate change for the Commonwealth of Learning