Catalina Munoz-Arias joined the Department of Design in 2022 in the Design Research and Development track. Her design interests include renewable materials such as bio-based, sustainable innovation, and circularity. Before joining the MFA program at Ohio State, Catalina's background in sports instilled in her a deep sense of discipline and commitment, which she brings to her design practice. With a passion for sustainability, she seeks to bridge material research, design, and industry to foster a more sustainable future.
Committee Members:
- William Nickley, Advisor
- Dr. Sébastien Proulx
- Dr. Jay Sayre
Thesis Paper Title: Advancing bio-based materials adoption: a multidisciplinary approach
Thesis Project Title: MATERIA – material analysis and experiential research tool for material selection
Project Description:
Material selection is essential in transitioning to renewable resource-based materials within product development, and designers' and engineers' roles are critical in this process. The emergence of bio-based materials highlights the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between designers and engineers to address sustainability goals regarding materials transition. While engineers focus on technical properties like cost, tensile strength, and melting points, designers emphasize experiential qualities such as sensorial appreciation, meanings, and material identity in material selection. Existing research has explored these technical and intangible perspectives separately, leading to a disconnect in understanding the full potential of materials.
This thesis bridges this gap by introducing a novel material profile tool that integrates technical properties and experiential qualities. Through material explorations and workshops with design and engineering practitioners, the study identifies shared and divergent approaches to material selection. The findings reveal factors influencing the adoption of bio-based materials during early production stages and propose strategies to characterize materials holistically. This research aims to advance the adoption of bio-based materials, fostering a more sustainable design and production paradigm by uniting technical and experiential perspectives.
