Join the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) for our Research Speaker Series, where a different faculty member presents their latest research each week.

These talks offer students and the broader community the opportunity to explore HCDE research topics such as Human-Centered Design for global and environmental challenges, innovative approaches to social and economic systems, and collaborative research practices. All talks are free and open to the public.

DECEMBER 5

Ana Pinto da Silva
Associate Teaching Professor, HCDE
Director, MHCI+D

Thrive: Home, Community & the Future of Care

Millions of older Americans want to age in their own homes and communities, but they struggle to do so. Our current housing crisis underscores an urgent need to re-imagine home and community solutions, creating places and spaces where people can thrive regardless of age or ability. In my talk, I will provide an overview of my work in aging and longevity, exploring housing solutions designed to support older people and their communities of care across the full arc of our 100-year lives.

Ana Pinto da Silva is an accomplished designer, technologist, and public speaker committed to advancing the role designers, engineers and researchers play in the development of future-defining innovation. As CEO and founder of 2G3R, Ana’s work celebrated aging and longevity, delivering home and community solutions that help people of all ages and abilities thrive. Ana has led design innovation initiatives traversing healthcare, education, civics, shopping and productivity for Amazon, Microsoft, NBBJ, and is a lecturer and contributor to the Design Intelligence Leadership Institute. Inspired by the power of leadership through community, Ana is the founder of the Seattle Pecha Kucha speaker series, the founding co-chair of the Harvard GSD’s global Design Impact initiative, and serves on the board of directors for the Harvard GSD MDE program, the Harvard GSD Alumni Council, and Leadership Tomorrow. In addition to her role as Director of the University of Washington's Master of Human Computer Interaction + Design (MHCI+D), Ana serves as an associate teaching professor for HCDE.