Celebrate and support our graduating Master of Design students as they reach a major milestone.
Join us to celebrate the incredible achievements of this year’s graduating class of Master of Design students as they present their final thesis work. Several events are happening over a few days, both online and in-person and everyone is welcome!
Whether you’re a friend, peer, faculty or ECU staff member or community guest, we hope you’ll take part in this exciting week of presentations, creativity and inspiring discussions.
ECU offers Interaction Design and Interdisciplinary Master of Design degrees. Both two-year, full-time degrees allow students to engage in innovative, generative coursework while developing an independent thesis.
Tuesday, April 7
Joy Nneji
Concerning the Client’s Information
Designing for the Right to Opacity in Computational Systems
9:00am
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External Reviewer: Dr. Beth Coleman
Supervisor: Amber Frid-Jimenez
Chair: Garnet Hertz
Olivia Tong
Designing for Mindful Moments
Fostering Well-being Through Interaction Design
10:00am
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External Reviewer: Tyler Fox
Supervisor: Manuhuia Barcham
Chair: Garnet Hertz
Tian Peng
Chinese Diasporic Food Identity
How Food Connects the Chinese Diaspora in Vancouver in 2025
11:00am
Join on Teams
External Reviewer: Amanda Huynh
Supervisor: Laura Kozak
Chair: Garnet Hertz
Qingru Guo
Capsule Life
How Our Ways of Living Are Shaped by Globalized Cities and Production Supply Chains — People – Object Relationships and Empathy in Repetitive Everyday Life
12:00pm
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External Reviewer: nicole killian
Supervisor: Charlotte Falk
Chair: Laura Kozak
Frankie Fowle
An Inventory of Unarchived Things
Illustration, Community Heritage, and the Development of a Resilient Design Practice
12:40pm
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External Reviewer: nicole killian
Supervisor: Bonne Zabolotney
Chair: Laura Kozak
Wednesday, April 8
Mark Unterberger
Co-Authoring the Surface
Narrative Translation in Prosthetic Design
9:30am
D2435
External Reviewer: Will Odom
Supervisor: Keith Doyle
Chair: TBA
Shayla Giroux
Getting the Hang of It
Relational Craft, Embodied Learning, and Equitable Making
12:00pm
Join on Teams
External Reviewer: Nicole Klenk
Supervisors: Hélène Day Fraser + Keith Doyle
Chair: TBA
Azmina Doctor
Threads Of Expression
Thinking Through Fabric Waste
3:00pm
D2315
External Reviewer: Thena Tak
Supervisors: Charlotte Falk + Keith Doyle
Chair: Laura Kozak
Sreya Gopisetty
COPD [un]contained
Challenging Standardization in Health Design Through Sensory Inquiry and Memory-based Design Research Methods
3:40pm
D2315
External Reviewer: Thena Tak
Supervisors: Charlotte Falk + Hélène Day Fraser
Chair: Laura Kozak
Justin Lin
From Deficit to Amplification
An Interest-Based AI-Assisted Design Framework for ADHD Cognition
4:00pm
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External Reviewer: Lisa Grocott
Supervisor: Garnet Hertz
Chair: Amber Frid-Jimenez
Mia Portelance
Down the Rabbit Hole
Digital Pathways to Extremism
4:40pm
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External Reviewer: Lisa Grocott
Supervisor: Craig Badke
Chair: Amber Frid-Jimenez
Melody Wang
Understanding Dyslexia
The Role of Simulation-Based Learning
5:20pm
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External Reviewer: Lisa Grocott
Supervisor: Manuhuia Barcham
Chair: Amber Frid-Jimenez
Thursday, April 9
Emilie Liu
Beyond Deliverables
Infrastructuring Knowledge Mobilization Systems for Research in Caregiving
9:00am
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External Reviewer: Joyce Yee
Supervisor: Garnet Hertz
Chair: Cameron Neat
Vidya Suryanarayan
Work after Cancer
Re-entry Challenges & Opportunities for Young Adults
10:00am
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External Reviewer: Garima Sood
Supervisors: Jon Hannan + Caylee Raber
Chair: Cameron Neat
Chris Lee
#HAIKUVER
Reimagining Place-based Design Practice in Vancouver
3:00pm
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External Reviewer: James Miller
Supervisor: Manuhuia Barcham
Chair: Keith Doyle
Shara Hamed-shamaei
tension | كشش | keshesh
4:00pm
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External Reviewer: Sophie Gaur
Supervisor: Hélène Day Fraser
Chair: Keith Doyle
Rachita Murthy
Stories, Spaces & Systems of Care for Free-Roaming Animals in Urban India
5:00pm
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External Reviewer: Sophie Gaur
Supervisor: Bonne Zabolotney
Chair: Keith Doyle
Lanlan Ji
Regenerative Design Pedagogy
Material Rituals, Sensory Attentiveness, and Embodied Care
5:40pm
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External Reviewer: Sophie Gaur
Supervisors: Bonne Zabolotney + Celeste Martin
Chair: Keith Doyle
Friday, April 10
Abhishek Singh Bais
The Translucent Interface
Balancing Agency, Friction, and Transparency in AI Design
8:30am
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External Reviewer: Dimeji Onafuwa
Supervisor: Garnet Hertz
Chair: Eugenia Bertulis
Zubda Tahir
Designing With Mirrors
Exploring the Impact of Positionality Awareness on Design Practice
9:10am
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External Reviewer: Dimeji Onafuwa
Supervisor: Haig Armen
Chair: Eugenia Bertulis
Rin Liu
Transitioning to a Sustainable Future
Reduction of Plastic Packaging through Community-based Purchase Pooling in Burnaby, BC
9:50am
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External Reviewer: Dimeji Onafuwa
Supervisors: Bonne Zabolotney + Cameron Neat
Chair: Eugenia Bertulis
Grishma Shah
Collaboration to Constraint:
Rethinking Generative Artificial Intelligence in User Experience & Interface Design
11:40am
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External Reviewer: Dimeji Onafuwa
Supervisor: Eugenia Bertulis
Chair: Manuhuia Barcham
Yifan Wang
Poetic Design
Attuning to Nature through Interaction Design
12:20pm
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External Reviewer: Dimeji Onafuwa
Supervisor: Eugenia Bertulis
Chair: Manuhuia Barcham
Zi Yin
Designing Reflective Systems for Fluctuating Health
A Practice-Based Exploration of Post-COVID Experiences Through the Five Elements (Wuxing) Framework
1:00pm
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External Reviewer: Gillian Harvey
Supervisor: Cameron Neat
Chair: Nadia Beyzaei
Cancan Jiang
Sensing the Unseen
Multi-sensory Interaction Design for Cognitive Fatigue and Sensory Dulling
1:40pm
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External Reviewer: Gillian Harvey
Supervisors: Jon Hannan + Caylee Raber
Chair: Nadia Beyzaei