Sam Russell

BDes (Hons) Industrial Design, MA Industrial Design

Head of Department


Sam is Head of Product Design at NCAD which includes a BA Product Design, BA Interaction Design, MSc in Medical Device Design and MA in Interaction Design. He has lectured in NCAD since 2009 and has guest lectured in University of Limerick, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin.

Sam holds a BDes (Hons) in Industrial Design and MA in Design with a focus on participatory design for development aid. He has an industry background working across product, furniture and exhibition design. From 2014 to 2017 he was principle investigator for NCAD input into PELARS, an EU FP7 funded project concerning the development of a learning analytics system and environment for practice based learning in design and STEM education.

As Head of Product Design he has focused on expanding the taught offering to support design of products, services and digital interactions through new course development, experiential learning, interdisciplinary collaboration and linking students to industry networks. 


2014 - 2017 Practice-based Experiential Learning Analytics Research And Support (PELARS). Funding: EU FP7 STREP. Project led by Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design. Role: Principal Investigator for NCAD input in the €2.2 million project. Work package 3 manager and member of project management team and scientific advisory group.

2009 Task Furniture in Education (TFE). Funding: Marie Curie FP7 IAPP. Role: Co-author of successful €1.3 million funding application for 4 year Task Furniture in Education project co-ordinated by NCAD.


Healion, D., Russell, S., Valkanova, N. and Rovida, R. (2018) PELARS: A Case Study of Collaborative Working in Transdisciplinary Teams, In: A. de la Garza and C. Travis, eds., The STEAM Revolution: Inter and Transdisciplinary Approaches to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. 1st ed. Springer, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-89818-6 

Healion, D., Russell, S., Cukurova, M. and Spikol, D. (2017). Designing Spaces for Collaboration in Practice-Based Learning. In: Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) 2017, Volume: 2, Philadelphia, International Society of the Learning Sciences. pp. 565-568. DOI: 10.22318/cscl2017.79

Healion, D., Russell, S., Cukurova, M. and Spikol, D. (2017). Tracing physical movement during practice-based learning through multimodal learning analytics. In: Proceedings of the Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK '17). New York, ACM, pp 588-589. DOI: 10.1145/3027385.3029474

Healion, D. and Russell, S. (2016). The development of an evaluation methodology to assess the efficacy of a furniture design for STEM education. Iterations – Design Research and Practice Review, (4), pp. 24-31.

Healion, D. and Russell, S. (2015). PELARS: incorporating universal design principles in the development of a learning analytics system for STEM education. Universal Design in Education Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 12-13 November, 2015.

Russell, S. (2012) ‘Lifejacket Design in Uganda’ in Ramberg, Truls and Leif Steven Verdu-Isachsen, eds. Design without Borders: Creating Change. Oslo: Norsk. Form,  ISBN 978-82-452-0046-1


Healion, D., O'Dowd, E., Russell, S. (2018). The discovery and visualisation of Human Factors in Healthcare procedures. 5th European Design4Health Conference (D4H), Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK. 4-Sep-18 - 6-Sep-18

Healion, D., Russell, S., Cukurova, M. and Spikol, D. (2017). Designing Spaces for Collaboration in Practice-Based Learning. [International Refereed Conference] 12th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), Drexel University and The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. 18-Jun-17 – 22-Jun-17

Healion, D., Russell, S., Cukurova, M. and Spikol, D. (2017). Tracing physical movement during practice-based learning through multimodal learning analytics. [International Refereed Conference] Seventh International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference (LAK '17). Simon Fraser University,
Vancouver, Canada. 13-Mar-17 – 17-Mar-17

Healion, D. and Russell, S. (2015) PELARS – Practice-based Experiential Learning Analytics Research and Support. IRC STEAM Interdisciplinary Research Workshop. Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, 9-Sep-16 – 10-Sep-16

Healion, D. and Russell, S. (2015) PELARS - Incorporating Universal Design principles in the development of a Learning Analytics System for STEM education. [National Refereed Conference Paper], Universal Design in Education Conference (UDIEC), Dublin, Ireland, 12-Nov-15 – 13-Nov-15.


Advisory panel member for Benchspace Creative Hub, Cork City
www.benchspace.ie

Co-founder of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths)
Interdisciplinary Research Network in partnership with UCC, TCD and UCD. €15,000 funding by Irish Research Council.

Co-founder of DESIS (Design for Social Innovation towards Sustainability) Ireland Network in partnership with UL and DIT. Activity funded by Irish Design 2015.

ITERATIONS Design Journal, Ireland - Editorial board member.
www.iterations.ie

Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCOI) - Design Mentor
www.ccoienterprise.ie