Sébastien Proulx, Ph.D.
Contact Information
- proulx.12@osu.edu
Areas of Expertise
- UX Design
- Industrial Design
- Social Design
- Design Studies
- Public Health
- Moral Sociology
- Care Ethic
Education
- Postdoc in Public Health, IRSPUM, Université de Montréal
- Ph.D. Design, Université de Montréal
- M.A.Sc. Design and Complexity, Université de Montréal
- B.F.A. Graphic Communication, Université Laval
- A.A., Liberal Arts, Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf
Select Recognition
- CoEditor-in-Chief, Sciences du Design
- Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Educator Award, 2022
- Award of Excellence in Design. University of Southern Mississippi National Poster Competition, 2023
- Battelle Engineering, Technology and Human Affairs (BETHA) Grant, 2020
- Qualification à la fonction de Maître de Conférence, Conseil National des Université de France, 2016
- Grafika Award, Montreal Canada, 2008
Current CV [pdf] Academia.edu ORCID Research Gate Teaching Portfolio
Sébastien Proulx is an Associate Professor of Design at the École de technologie supérieure in Montreal (part of the Université du Québec network) and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Design at The Ohio State University. Formerly a tenured faculty member at Ohio State, he also served as Graduate Studies Chair (2020–2025) and Coordinator of the Industrial Design major (2017–2024). He holds a PhD in Design and a Master of Applied Science in Design and Complexity from the University of Montreal. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in public health at the University of Montreal’s Public Health Research Center (IRSPUM).
During his graduate studies, Dr. Proulx held a doctoral fellowship in political and moral sociology at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris and a master-level fellowship on the topic of Orientation/Disorientation at the Institute Design2Context at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) in Zurich. In 2022, he was honored with the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Education Award.
Dr. Proulx serves as CoEditor-in-Chief of the francophone peer-review journal Sciences du Design (PUF). He also is an Affiliated Associate Professor with the Department of Design of the École de Technologie Supérieure (University of Québec), and a member of the University of Montreal’s Design et Société research group.
Before joining Ohio State’s Department of Design, Dr. Proulx was an instructor at the University of Montreal’s School of Design for 12 years. He taught social service design, problem setting and visual communication to industrial design students. He was also a recurring visiting speaker at the University of Nîmes (France) where he intervened in the Design for Social Innovation graduate program.
His research program revolves around the role of designers in the development of public services and policies. His approach draws on moral sociology and care ethics to develop an appropriate conceptual framework to provide designers with ways to cope with the complexity of contemporary social and political realities. His researches focus on 1) understanding designers’ role in the sociopolitical realm (theoretical axis), 2) expanding the horizon of design activities in the development of public services (practical axis) and 3) making designers capable of assuming the responsibilities associated to such a stance (pedagogical axis).
Sébastien Proulx est professeur agrégé au Département de design de l’École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS) de Montréal, membre du réseau de l’Université du Québec. Ses activités de recherche et d’enseignement explorent les pratiques de design social et le rôle du design dans l’amélioration des services publics.
Avant de rejoindre l’ÉTS en 2025, il a occupé le poste professeur agrégé au Département de design de la Ohio State University, où il était coordonnateur du programme de baccalauréat en design industriel (2017-2024), directeur des études supérieures (2022-2025) et co-directeur du laboratoire de recherche DESIS (2017-2025).
En reconnaissance de ses contributions à l’enseignement et à la recherche en design industriel, il a reçu, en 2023, le prestigieux Educator Award de la Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA). Depuis 2018, il est rédacteur en chef adjoint de la revue Sciences du Design, confirmant son engagement envers la diffusion des savoirs dans le domaine du design.
Dr. Proulx détient un doctorat en Aménagement (Design) et une maîtrise en sciences appliquées (option Design et Complexité) de l’Université de Montréal. Il a également complété un stage postdoctoral en santé publique à l’Institut de recherche en santé publique de l’Université de Montréal et un stage doctoral en sociologie politique et morale, au sein du Groupe de Sociologie Politique et Morale (GSPM) affilié à l’École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) de Paris.
Active Community and University Service and Leadership
- Co-Editor in Chief, Sciences du Design
- College of Experts Reviewers, European Science Foundation
- Groupe Design et Société
- Design Research Society (DRS)
- Chaire de recherche en économie créative et mieux-être (CREAT)
Current Research
- Design as a Care Practice
Question the conceptual proximities between Design and Care Ethics. - Building Bridges between Design and Public Health
Determine the extent to which a person-centered design approach may contribute to the development of socioculturally fitted public health strategies. - Politics of User Experiences
Develop indicators to better understand the general economics of social design methods and study their relevance, limitations, strengths, and weaknesses.
Research conducted in collaboration with: Philippe Gauthier (U of Montreal); Marie D. Martel (U of Montréal); Johanne Brochu (Laval U) - Problematization in Design: Problem Diagnostic Strategies & Methodologies
Examine theories and methods through which designers engage with problematization - Digital Public Participation Lab
Explore how the Hyve-3D system can support the agency of lay people in the decision-making process in public participation
Research conducted in collaboration with: Tijs Van Mansakkers (OSU, Knowlton School); Susan Melsop (OSU, Design); Jason Reece (OSU, Knowlton); William Nickley (OSU, Design)
Graduate Research Advising (current Ohio State students)
- Nina Wolf, MFA in Design (Design Research and Development), Ohio State University (Advisor)
Undergraduate Research Advising (Selected list)
- Zoë Shay-Tannas, Pulltag, Save a Limb save a Life
Core77 Student Commercial Equipment Award - Easton Nguyen, Exit the Rat Race
Core77 Editors' Choice award - Sarah Kocher, Huntington TravelReady™ Currency Package
2nd place (category) Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Annie Roo, Enabling Professional Intervention Points for the Process of Stroke Rehabilitation
3rd place (category) Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Madyson Webb, Honda Grocer Companion: Grocery Service Vehicle Improvement App
2nd place (category) Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Kaitlyn Smith, Drop: Vital Monitoring Wearable Patch and System
IDSA Columbus Student Merit Award winner, Industrial Design Best of show - Isabella Brown, Redesigning the Rear Seat Passenger Experience by Developing a Versatile Storage Solution
- Allison Krish, Bus Stops as Facilitators of Mobility and Social Connectedness in Older Adults
IDSA Columbus Student Merit Award winner, Industrial Design Best of show - Leila Akberdin, Increasing Food System Resiliency Through Mobile Meat Processing: Atlas Meats
- Aaron Cochran, Increasing Food System Resiliency Through Mobile Meat Processing: Atlas Meats
- Lauren Hoffman, Join: Facilitating a culture of intergenerational interaction at Champion Intergenerational Center
- Isabella Esposito, ZEST: Reviving the art of cooking for individuals with limited hand function
- Alessia Espejo, Pingüino: Feeding therapy tools to help foster independence in infants with cognitive, sensory and motor disorders
Teaching Portfolio
Selected Publications
- Proulx, S., Le boeuf, J., Gauthier, P., Bonnardo, Z. (2025) Sciences du Design, 20, Le doctorat en design. Enjeux et évolutions. Presses Universitaires de France
- Proulx, S., Munch, F., Gauthier, P ., Cooper, R., Teixeira, C., Imbesi, L., and Cucuzzella, C. (2024) Doctoral education in design. The administrative challenges, in Gray, C., Hekkert, P ., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P . (eds.),
DRS2024: Bost on, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1579 - Proulx, S.,and Nickley, W.(2023) Sparking Creative prowess through a peculiar design challenge: a mocktail design charrette, in De Sainz Molestina, D., Galluzzo, L., Rizzo, F., Spallazzo, D. (eds.), IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design, 9-13 October, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.781
- Gauthier, P., and Proulx, S. (2022) Differential Moral Framing and The Design Imagination, in Lockton, D., Lloyd, P., Lenzi, S. (eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain.
- Vial, S., Gauthier, P., Gentès A., Leboeuf, J. & Proulx, S. (Eds.) (2019). Sciences du Design, 10, “Nouveaux Regards” [Sciences of Design, nb. 10, Novel Perspectives]. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
- Proulx, S. (2021). Between Gut Feeling and Structured Reflective Process. The Art of Making Diagnosis. Journal Design Research, 19(1/2/3), 46–58. DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2021.10043662
- Proulx, S. (2021) Teaching Problematization of a Design Capstone Project. Presentation of a Pedagogical Tool. International Journal of Designs for Learning. 12(3), p. 129-142.
- Proulx, S. (2019). Questioning the Nature of Design Activity, Through Alasdair MacIntyre’s Account of the Concept of Practice. The Design Journal, 22(5), 649-664.
- Lehoux, P., Proulx, S. (2019), Deliberating as a public representative or as a potential user? Two complementary perspectives that should inform health innovation policy. Healthcare Policy. 14(4), 28-38.
- Gauthier, P., Proulx, S. & Münch, F. (Eds.) (2019). Transformer, Innover, Dérégler. Les actes de la 10e conférence des Ateliers de la recherche en design. [Transform, Innovate, Disturb. Proceedings of 10th Conference of the Ateliers de la recherche en design], Montréal, Canada, October 21-24, 2015. Montreal: Édition Design et Société.
- Proulx, S., Gauthier, P. & Hamarat, Y. (2019). Qualities of Public Health. Towards an Analysis of Aesthetic Features of Public Policies. In Vogel C. and Muratovski, G (Eds.), Re: Research, Volume 4: Design and Living Well. Bristol, UK: Intellect, pp. 13-25.
- Proulx, S. (2018). Designing for the Vulnerable: Alasdair MacIntyre’s Concept of Proxy as Ethical Framework. International Journal of Design in Society, 12(4), 45-53.