I was invited to developed and chair the third International Integrated Design Camp 2020, commissioned by KIDP in August 2020. Unfortunately, the camp was almost cancelled due to the pandemic due to the COVID 19. But instead, KIDP decided to host the event online. Eleven design professionals and professors were invited as tutors and 72 students from ten different time zones and 40 different colleges participated in the two-week-long camp online. Despite the challenge, including time differences, the camp was extremely successful and resulted in eleven intriguing concepts fighting the pandemic. The outcomes include a design solution for more resilient small business, sustainable and smart protection kits for travelers, hygiene around hands, safe subway experience, improved work-from-home experience, new-normal nursing home life, on-demand mobile clinic, reducing disposable mask wastage, safety at elementary schools, new face-to-face communication, and a space for collaboration.

I shared my thoughts on discovering the invisible and turning them into new mobility design opportunities at the Toyota Design Center in Japan in June 2018. Misono Hideich, former president of Techno Art, a subsidiary of Toyota invited me and Tokuo Fukuichi, a former Executive General Manager and Simon Humphries, a new Executive General Manager were among the audience.

This was the second year of International Integrated Design Camp, commissioned by KIDP (Korea Institute of Design Promotion). I was invited to plan, organize, and chair the camp (IIDC 2019) in Korea. The camp invited some 100 students and tutors from 13 countries and was held from June 24 through 29, 2019.

The theme for this year was Towards Inclusivity: Sustainable and Smart Cities, which is to conceive creative solutions to make cities better place to live and work while addressing UNESCO’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Students from design and engineering majors from a number of universities worked under the lead of professional designers in a short yet intensive workshop.

I delivered a keynote titled Design and Cities to show how cities were born and failed, and what we can learn from them to make them smart, sustainable, and inclusive. Student teams conducted deep-dive investigations into current situations in Seoul and Sungnam and worked days and nights to come up with brilliant concepts.

I appreciate all professional designers who worked as tutors – Paul Hatch (Teams Design), Emmanuel Wolfs (Wolfs+Jung), Thomas Garvey (Carleton University), Alan Yip (Yip Design), Michele Aquila (Domus Academy), Hideichi Misono (JIDA/Toyota), Nick Ross (Teague Design), Ilgu Cha (Molekule), Taewook Cha (Sypermass Studio), Sangwoo Cho (Sigma Connectivity Group), Junghoon Lee (BMW Designworks), Nathan Matthews (Fourpeople Ltd.) Bora Shin (ArtCenter), and Hwasung Yoo (ByMars).

I also thank all students participants for working so hard (many of them worked through the night before the presentation). I am sure that they brought lots of beautiful memories and connections back home.