Luis is a Latin American public designer and facilitator who helps governments and partner organizations translate complex public challenges into participatory strategies, learning processes, and actionable interventions. He holds a Ph.D. in Transition Design and is a convener of the Learning × Public Design International Network, the Designing Policy Network, and the Pluriversal Design SIG for the Design Research Society. He is a Senior Teaching Consultant Fellow for the Eberly Center, supporting emerging educators through the Future Faculty Program at Carnegie Mellon University.
He has worked with the Ecuadorian Corporation for the Development of Research and Academia (CEDIA) and the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), organizing two national open innovation initiatives focused on sustainable urban mobility. His experience spans transdisciplinary collaborations in public spaces, curriculum design, healthcare, and community engagement.
In 2021, he served as a Public Space Fellow for the Indianapolis Cultural Trail and participated in the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) through the Research Jam program. This program collaborates with community members, patients, care providers, and researchers, using people-centered design research to improve health services, research, and overall quality of life. In 2019, he was part of a multidisciplinary team that evaluated and proposed improvements for a new public bike-sharing system in Cuenca, Ecuador.
In 2017, alongside a multidisciplinary team of designers and engineers, he received the Matilde Hidalgo Award for Best Innovation of the Year. This award, presented by the President of Ecuador, is the highest honor in Ecuador’s education, innovation, and research fields.
As a Fulbright scholar, Luis studied an MFA focused on Design Research and Strategy from Indiana University, Indianapolis, and has a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Cuenca. While an undergraduate student, Luis was part of the university Honors Program, coordinated in collaboration with the Belgian University of Leuven, a multidisciplinary initiative that offered students dedicated training in scientific research approaches and methods.