Kiersten Muenchinger
Ecomaterials Innovation Lab
Kiersten Muenchinger is the founding director of the Product Design Program and a principal of the Green Product Design Network at the University of Oregon. Muenchinger researches new materials and their processing methods to better understand when and why the newest materials technologies are accepted in mass-produced consumer products. She is also an active member in the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and is currently the Education Representative for the Western District. Prior to joining the University of Oregon, Muenchinger was a design engineer with IDEO, Fitch, Sottsass Associati, Walt Disney Imagineering and the Long Now Foundation, and founded the company Parapluie. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Dartmouth College and a master’s in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.