Doctor of Design (DDes) Symposium

Welcome, and thank you for joining us at the SAPL DDes Spring Symposium 2026. Our Doctoral candidates have been diligent in pushing the boundaries of professional practice-based research and are eager to share their findings and insights with our community.

Please note that the symposium is fully online, and that Zoom links for each session are listed below for your reference. We ask that the panelists with an asterisk next to their initials chair the session (time keep), allowing for a 15-minute student presentation and then 12 minutes per panelist.

As per DDes tradition, participants should note that each session is recorded, as a study aid for students to access after the symposium.

Please find a panelist guide and full program at the bottom of this page.

SESSION TIMES (MST)	ROOM	ZOOM DETAILS	SESSION	NAME
8:00 - 8:15 AM	701 Design Commons		OPENING REMARKS
8:15 - 10:15 AM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 934 7418 1382 Passcode: SC0815	Thesis Defense	Susan Carter (BW*, JB, MP, GH, TB, AK)
8:15 - 10:15 AM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 945 0239 2988 Passcode: TG0815	Candidacy Exam	Tom Gallagher (GL*, JT, DC, BWT)
10:15 - 10:30 AM			BREAK
10:30 - 11:30 AM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 961 9933 7191 Passcode: SS1030	Interim Research Presentation	Sam Leika-Shukor (JB*, GH, SS)
10:30 - 11:30 AM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 990 7590 3434 Passcode: LS1030	Interim Research Presentation	Lukas Sokol (BW*, RW, LY)
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM	701 Design Commons		KEYNOTE SPEAKER & LUNCH (Keynote starts at 12:30 PM)
1:00 - 3:00 PM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 915 1222 1197 Passcode: PL1300	Thesis Defense	Paige Lloyd (JT*,GL, BJ, DH, SS, DN)
1:00 - 3:00 PM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 961 1961 7059 Passcode: AD1300	Thesis Defense	Azin Dilmaghani (BW*, MD, ADS, MN, BWT)
3:00 - 3:15 PM			BREAK
3:15 - 5:15 PM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 942 0936 1078 Passcode: SB1515	Candidacy Exam	Sylvain Bilodeau (JB*, DAJ, DH, AK)
3:15 - 5:15 PM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 998 8666 6079 Passcode: JP1515	Candidacy Exam	Jody Patterson (BW*, TR, GH, SS)
5:15 - 7:00 PM	701 Design Commons		RECEPTION & BUILDING TOUR

*Session Chair

SESSION TIMES (MST)	ROOM	ZOOM DETAILS	SESSION	NAME
8:00 - 10:00 AM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 913 8691 5618 Passcode: SR0800	Candidacy Exam	Simon Raper (BW*, MD, KW, TB)
8:00 - 10:00 AM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 962 2888 6759 Passcode: SA0800	Candidacy Exam	Sarmad Al-Mashta (GB*, MA, YL, BWT)
10:00 - 10:15 AM			BREAK
10:15 AM - 12:15 PM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 950 1108 6020 Passcode: MG1015	Candidacy Exam	Matt Grace (BW*, VK, GA, GH)
	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 969 7034 9976 Passcode: FI1015	Candidacy Exam	Fahad Islam (JB*, BJ, GL, DN)
12:15 - 1:15 PM			LUNCH
1:15 - 3:15 PM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 924 0235 9453 Passcode: NM1315	Candidacy Exam	Nadi Miri (GL*, TR, BW, AK)
1:15 - 2:05 PM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 921 3627 0276 Passcode: SC1315	Interim Research Presentation	Selina Chen (JB*, RW, LY)
2:05 - 3:05 PM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 935 8154 3842 Passcode: AL1415	Interim Research Presentation	Allyse Li (JB*, BJ, TB)
3:15 - 3:30 PM			BREAK
3:30 - 4:20 PM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 947 9965 9762 Passcode: ES1530	Interim Research Presentation	Emmanuel Ssinabulya (BW*, CK, SS)
3:30 - 4:20 PM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 943 8569 7504 Passcode: YK1530	Interim Research Presentation	Yulia Korobkova (JT*, KW, AK)
4:20 - 5:10 PM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 932 4594 3756 Passcode: FW1620	Interim Research Presentation	Francis Wang (BW*, GH, DN)
4:20 - 5:10 PM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 913 0023 2765 Passcode: GL1620	Interim Research Presentation	Gerry Lang (JB*, MD, BWT)
7:00 - 10:00 PM			DINNER

*Session Chair

SESSION TIMES (MST)	ROOM	ZOOM DETAILS	SESSION	NAME
9:00 - 11:00 AM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 950 6653 2503 Passcode: AD0900	Thesis Defense	Alkarim Devani (JB*, TG, GM, ST, JD)
9:00 - 9:50 AM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 943 4012 0080 Passcode: JK0900	Interim Research Presentation	Jennifer Kolstad (BW*, GH, DF)
10:00 - 10:50 AM	806	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 996 7977 3501 Passcode: DF1000	Interim Research Presentation	David Finch
11:00 - 11:10 AM			BREAK
11:10 AM - 12:00 PM	905	Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 950 6725 6180 Passcode: DM1100	Interim Research Presentation	Daniel Mercer (JB*, AT, TG)
12:00 - 12:15 PM	701 Design Commons		CLOSING REMARKS

(ADS) Alberto De Salvetierra	(AT) Amy Tsang	(AK) Andrew King	(BJ) Barry Johns	(BW) Barry Wylant	(BWT) Brenda Webster-Tweel	(CK) Cecile Kotyk	(DH) Dan Hapton
(DAJ) D'Arcy Jones	(DC) Darryl Condon	(DF) David Finch	(DN) Diarmuid Nash	(GA) Getachew Assefa	(GL) Graham Livesey	(GH) Greg Hart	(GM) Greg Morrow
(JD) Jim Dewald	(JB) John Brown)	(JT) Joshua Taron	(KW) Kate Wagner	(LY) Laura Young	(MA) Maher Alrez	(MN) Matthew North	(MP) Matthew Parker
(MD) Michael Donaldson	(RW) Robb Whyte	(SS) Sally Stewart	(ST) Sasha Tsenkova	(TG) Teresa Goldstein	(TB) Trevor Boddy	(TR) Troy Rhodes	(VK) Viren Kallianpur
(YL) Yanghe Liu

Full Program, Panelist and Candidate Bios

Doctor of Design (DDes) Symposium

DDes Spring Symposium 2026

Day 1 - Friday, June 12

Day 2 - Saturday, June 13

Day 3 - Sunday, June 14

Community Members/Panelists