Ethically Designing our Future

Avalon Mechanical, Design Victoria and KWENCH present

Ethically Designing Our Future - and Who Will Design it. Humans or AI?

Join us as we expose and discuss key topics that demand consideration when designing our future.

Panel 1. Ethically designing our future 
As we strive to build a more inclusive and accessible world, what must we consider when designing with a lens of social and environmental responsibility/stewardship?

Carrie Smart - Carrie’s passion for architecture centres around its ability to make a difference in her
community in creative, beautiful, and engaging ways. She is a Municipal Councillor for Oak Bay and member of multiple arts and environmental organizations. Carrie believes that we need to view all long-term design projects through the lens of future generations, equity, sustainability, and reconciliation. 

Franc D'Ambrosio

Luke Mari

Panel 2. AI - Where do all the designers go?

Will AI become the ultimate designer, leaving human designers jobless? Get ready to discover the challenging truth about the fate of designers in the age of AI!

Aya Ladki

Aya is a trailblazer in emerging technology at the Ignition Centre for KPMG Canada, where she drives Artificial Intelligence initiatives, design-thinking sessions, and business-led applications in emerging technology. Prior to KPMG, Aya worked in the tech industry, specializing in XR, AI, and IoT implementation, and has collaborated with clients such as the United Nations, VICE Media, Samsung, Lululemon, and Ridley Scott’s Creative Agency on projects involving leading-edge technologies and innovative development pipelines. Aya’s creativity, technical knowledge, and data-driven methodologies allow her to problem-solve and think holistically about user-centric design.

David Ellingsen
is a Canadian photo-based artist making work that speaks to the relationship between humans and the natural world. They have been shortlisted for Photolucida's Critical Mass Book Award, appeared with National Geographic and Patagonia Books, and were awarded First Place at the Prix de la Photographie Paris and the International Photography Awards.  In his earlier years, he was a freelance assignment photographer for New York Times Magazine, Grey Worldwide, Oprah Winfrey Network, Business Development Bank of Canada, DDB, and CBC Radio Canada.

www.davidellingsen.com    www.instagram.com/davidellingsenphoto  www.dazedandconfucius.com

Nori Nishigaya
Founder of the Salmon Nation Decentralized Alliance (SANADA), an organization devoted to bringing creative blockchain solutions to challenges within the Salmon Nation bio-region.  Nori is deeply involved in the governance structures of Project Catalyst and is one of the founding members of Cardano4Climate, a group formed to investigate how blockchain tools can be used to help reverse climate change. Nori worked as a Senior Software Developer at Amazon for 13 years and has an insatiable interest in everything tech and what it means for our society and our planet.