Mersha Aftab

MA Design Management Course Director

Birmingham School of Architecture and Design

Email:: Mersha.Aftab@bcu.ac.uk

Dr. Mersha Aftab is a senior lecturer in Design Management and the course director for postgraduate design management courses at Birmingham City University. Before joining the Faculty of Architecture, Design, and Media in September 2019, she was a Senior Lecturer in Innovation at the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences, Northumbria University, since 2012.

In 2006, she finished her BA in fashion and information technology from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, India, and began her professional career with India’s largest retail giant, Shopper’s Stop inc. Before pursuing her masters, she also got the experience of working as an assistant product manager with the United Colours of Benetton (India). She got her Master's degree in Design Management in 2010 from Northumbria University.

Mersha joined Philips Design, Eindhoven, as an intern in 2010 under a collaborative scholarship scheme between Philips and Northumbria University. During her internship, she used design research to refine and explicitly define the value proposition and development process run by the Research Development and Innovation team at Philips Design. In 2013 she was awarded her doctorate on the topic ‘design as a functional leader: a case study to investigate the role of design as a potential leading discipline in multinationals’.

Since 2013, her research has revealed that for design to be a leading functional discipline within an organisation and lead breakthrough innovations, designers must have the connector-integrator (interdisciplinary) capability, i.e. the ability to connect different disciplines to work together. Mersha’s work has led her to collaborate with Nokia, Daimler, Sony Erricson, Lego, Google, and Samsung. Mersha’s interest also lies in exploring the role of design in triggering a change in the culture of organisations.

Areas of Expertise

Qualifications

Memberships

Teaching

Research

Publications

PhD Thesis

Aftab, Mersha (2013) Design as a functional leader: a case study to investigate the role of design as a potential leading discipline in multinational organisations. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

Book Chapter

Aftab, Mersha & Young, Robert (2016) Researching the design innovation process in a multinational: An Empathic Approach to the Application of Delphi Technique. Edited by Robert DeFillippi, Alison Rieple & Patrik Wikström in International Perspectives on Business Innovation and Disruption in Design. Cheltenham: Edward Edgar Publications.

Aftab, Mersha, Spencer, Nick, Bailey, Mark, Jeffs, Chris, Smith, Neil, Stalker, Brenda & Sams, Phil (2015) A multidisciplinary approach to innovation. In: The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Teaching Excellence Awards 2015: An Anthology of Case Histories. Academic Conferences and Publishing International, Reading, pp. 1-14. ISBN 9781910810538.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication

Gribbin, J. John, Aftab, Mersha, & Young, Robert (2017) Understanding the dynamics of attitudes within a design and business-focused collaboration. Strategic Design Research Journal, 10(2): 126-133, May-August 2017.
Aftab, Mersha & Rusli, Helen A. Designing Visceral, Behavioural and Reflective Products. H.A. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. (2017) 30: 1058. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10033-017-0161-x
Kyffin, Steven & Aftab, Mersha (2016) Achieving excellence in design research: a case study of research and education framework at Northumbria University. International Journal of Arts and Technology, 9 (3). pp. 199-213. ISSN 1754-8853.
Gribbin, J. John, Aftab, Mersha, & Young, Robert (2017) Understanding the dynamics of attitudes within a design and business-focused collaboration. Strategic Design Research Journal, 10(2): 126-133, May-August 2017.
Aftab, Mersha & Rusli, Helen A. Designing Visceral, Behavioural and Reflective Products. H.A. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. (2017) 30: 1058. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10033-017-0161-x

Kyffin, Steven & Aftab, Mersha (2016) Achieving excellence in design research: a case study of research and education framework at Northumbria University. International Journal of Arts and Technology, 9 (3). pp. 199-213. ISSN 1754-8853.

Peer-reviewed Conference

Aftab, Mersha, Kyffin, Steven and Spencer, Nick (2017) Social value creation through Multidisciplinary design education. In: 7th International Congress of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR), 1-3 November 2017, Cincinnati.

Putri, Medeirasari, Aftab, Mersha, Bailey, Mark and Spencer, Nick (2017) Exploring Design Specific Factors For Building Longer Term Industry Relationships. In: 7th International Congress of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR), 1-3 November 2017, Cincinnati.

Gribbin, John, Young, Robert & Aftab, Mersha (2016) Towards a holistic framework of design competence. In: 19th Academic Design Management Conference, 28th - 29th July, Boston, USA.
Gaith, Kawar & Aftab, Mersha (2016) The Value of Design in an Enterprise Cloud Solution. In: 20th DMI: Academic Design Management Conference, 28th - 29th July 2016, Boston, USA.

Aftab, Mersha, English, Stuart, Livesley, Matthew, Antonio De Filho, Marcos, Agustine Rusli, Helen, Smith, Penelope & Hunt, Pete (2016) Design Entrepreneurship in Innovation. In: 20th DMI: Academic Design Management Conference Inflection Point: Design Research Meets Design Practice Boston, 28th - 29th July 2016, Boston, MA.

Aftab, Mersha & Young, Robert (2014) Mapping a design innovation process within a Multinational Corporation– A design perspective to using the Delphi technique. In: Design Research Society (DRS) 2014, 15-19 June 2014, Umea, Sweden.

Aftab, Mersha, Young, Robert & MacLarty, Liz (2013) Design As A Functional Leader: A Case Study Of Philips To Investigate The Potential Of Design As A Leading Functional Discipline. In: Crafting The Future: 10th European Academy of Design, 17-19 April, Gothenburg.

Gaith, Kawar & Aftab, Mersha (2016) The Value of Design in an Enterprise Cloud Solution. In: 20th DMI: Academic Design Management Conference, 28th - 29th July 2016, Boston, USA.

Bailey, Mark, Aftab, Mersha & Smith, Neil (2015) Hidden value - towards an understanding of the full impact of engaging students in user-led research and innovation projects between universities and companies. In: LearnxDesign Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference for Design Education Researchers. Design Research Society, pp. 290-307.

Kyffin, Steven, Aftab, Mersha, Spencer, Nicholas & (under review) Social Value Creation through Multidisciplinary Design Education. International Conference on Design Research.

MacLarty, Liz & Aftab, Mersha (2015) Improving the Relevance of Taught Postgraduate Design Education at a UK University by Correlation with the Global Professional Context. In: INSIGHT 2015: Design Research Symposium, 23rd - 24th January 2015, Bangalore, India.

Bailey, Mark, Aftab, Mersha & Duncan, Trevor (2014) New Design Is Bigger And Harder – Design Mastery In A Changing World. In: 16th International Conference on Engineering & Product Design Education - Design Education & Human Technology Relations, 4th - 5th September 2015, Twente, The Netherlands.

Spencer, Nick, Walden, Roderick, Leong, Benny, Bailey, Mark & Aftab, Mersha (2014) Establishing and Leveraging networks in design education innovation projects. In: 16th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, 4th - 5th September 2014, Enschede, The Netherlands.

Bailey, Mark, Smith, Neil & Aftab, Mersha (2013) Connecting for Impact - Multidisciplinary Approaches to Innovation in Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). In: DRS/Cumulus Conference 2013: The 2nd International Conference for Design Education Researchers, 14-17 May 2013, Oslo, Norway.