Dr. Filippo A. Salustri
Areas of Academic Interest
Design theory and methodology
Systems thinking
Bio-inspired design
Formal systems in engineering design
Information visualization
Spotlight
Did you know that you are a designer? Filippo Salustri says so. “Design is recognizing that there is a shortcoming and developing a way to improve the situation,” he says. “Everyone designs every day.”
A mechanical engineer who has been teaching and researching at Ryerson since 1989, Salustri has dedicated his career to advancing the practice of design in engineering. He wants engineers to predict ways that users will be satisfied with, constrained by or hard on products.
In the cornerstone design course, which he teaches in partnership with ergonomist Patrick Neumann, Salustri challenges students to do so by engaging them in diverse projects such as designing a stroller, a lifeboat or a patient list for a hospital emergency room – projects that amplify their natural design tendencies and inspire creativity. “A true designer,” he says, “is unconstrained by the limits of discipline and field.”
“By reasoning out the way people use engineered products, we can design deficiencies out of them.”
- Leadership in Faculty Teaching Award, Province of Ontario, 2007
- Salustri, F.A., and Neumann, W.P. “Creating a Human-Centric Engineering Design Course.” Proc. 2017 Conference of the Canadian Engineering Education Association. Paper 079. 4-7 June 2017. University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
- Hoeller, N., Farnsworth, M., Jacobs, S., Chirazi, J., Mead, T., Goel, A., and Salustri, F.A. “A Systems View of Bioinspiration: Bridging the Gaps.” INCOSE Insight, vol. 19, no. 1, 2016, pp. 36-40.
- Hoeller, N., and Salustri, F.A. “Advancing Biomimetic Materials Through ISO Standards.” Bioinspired, Biomimetic and Nanobiomaterials, vol. 5, no. 4, 2016, pp. 171-175.
- Salustri, F.A., and Rogers, D. “Using Balance Variables to Describe System Interfaces and Assess In-progress Designs.” DS 80-5 Proc 20th International Conference on Engineering Design, vol 5, 2015, pp. 27-30.