Meet an Innovator: Adeline Diamond

Italia Innovation Program

Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah

School: The Rhode Island School of Design

Specialty: Industrial Design

1. What got you into your field?

Daily awareness is being eroded in our everyday culture. People have become so consumed by their electronic devices that we’ve become less aware of our surroundings.

My undergraduate degree in industrial design exposed me to the importance of product innovation, but more importantly to the critical need of understanding and knowing “the user.” I view design as a form of advertising — a form of awareness and expression. Advertising can ultimately alert and excite awareness, and toward that goal, I’ve pursued my creative path.

2. What’s your proudest accomplishment?

MIT is a world-renowned university for their high academic success in science and technology. This past semester I had the opportunity to take a class at MIT and work with MIT Masters and Ph.D. student projects.

As a designer it was my most powerful, challenging, and frustrating academic endeavor. When two minds on complete opposite ends of the spectrum have the potential to create brilliant ideas, it can be so hard to communicate with each other.

This class allowed me to understand, appreciate and overcome communication obstacles and help create a unique, patented product. This collaborative experience was an academic accomplishment, and one of my proudest personal and professional accomplishments as well.

3. What’s something you’ve learned (or been surprised by) this week in the Italia Innovation Program?

Within the first week, I was eager to see how other people in the program would react towards my perspective on the challenges. I was delivered a delightful surprise: bot only were my peers very accepting of the way I processed different challenges, they were willing to adapt their way of thinking in order to understand mine.

4. What do you hope to get out of the program?

Italy is full of culture, tradition, and inspiration, but that’s not necessarily what makes the experience unique. It’s the people. Whether it’s my peers, staff, educators, or CEOs of world-renowned Italian companies, they’ve all enriched my life within the first two weeks. Ultimately, I expect to finish the program with a whole new perspective on art, design and education and how each one compliments the other.