AT A GLANCE
Akshay Prakash
Area of Practice:
OVERVIEW
Akshay is a design educator, an engineer and a public policy practitioner. As a public policy practitioner, He has worked closely with various departmental entities in the Government of Maharashtra, implementing projects with local communities and stakeholders in the areas of rural housing, drinking water, sanitation and others, across the villages of Maharashtra. He has also engaged in implementing projects in the areas of primary education, and entrepreneurship development for underserved communities.
Given his engineering background, he has a keen interest and understanding in the workings of various products (electronics, mechanical parts and components) and how their workings and principles can better inform product exploration, experimentation and design.
His mechanical engineering and public policy background enables blending of concepts, ideas and principles within the field of design.
By keeping contextual- based design inquiry at the core of his practice, he applies the lenses of public policy and governance to make interconnections that open unique opportunity areas for design based solutions that have a transformational impact for local communities, in both rural and urban areas.
At Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Akshay executes projects and courses in the areas of sustainable material design and engineering, product design, social design, service and systems design and ‘The Design, Public Policy and Governance Initiative’.
He is also an avid guitar player, with a keen interest in classic rock, Indian fusion, Bollywood tracks and heavy metal music.
EDUCATION
- M.A Development (specialising in Law, Governance & Public Policy), Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
- B.E (Mechanical Engineering), P.E.S University, Bengaluru
WORK EXPERIENCE
- Faculty at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology from 2021 onwards
- Project Manager, Adivasi Innovation Hub, Gudalur, Tamil Nadu
- Mission Associate, Village Social Transformation Foundation (VSTF), Govt. of Maharashtra (GoM), Mumbai
- Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Rural Development Fellow, Govt of Maharashtra (GoM), Chandrapur: To view the success story of village transformation, click on the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qoqGLPr-Zc
- Program Officer at A.S.P.I.R.E (A Society for the Promotion of Inclusive & Relevant Education), an N.G.O in New Delhi
- Associate Quality Consultant at Qminds Consulting, Bengaluru
INTEREST AREAS
- Product & Service design
- Sustainable Material Design & Engineering
- Tools of Public Policy and Governance
- Politics & Development Studies
CURRENT PRACTICE AT SRISHTI
At Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Akshay executes projects and courses in the areas of sustainable material design and engineering, product design, social design, service and systems design and ‘The Design, Public Policy and Governance Initiative’.
TEACHING PORTFOLIO
Picture 1: Outdoor furniture such as chairs, stools and mats made using repurposed plastic sheets, as part of the 8th Semester: Green Packaging Project
Picture 2: Street cart designed and fabricated for fruit vendors of Commercial Street, as part of the 7th Semester: Making That Matters Project
Picture 3: EV scooter designed and fabricated, as part of the 7th Semester: Making That Matters Project
Picture 4: Natural fibres material and form explorations for sustainable food packaging alternatives, as part of the 8th Semester: Green Packaging Project
Picture 5: Prototype of functional tricycle using scrap metal, as part of Bicycle: Break and Make workshop
Picture 6: Prototype of simple circuit boards using wood and other sustainable material
CREATIVE PRACTICE & OUTREACH
- Product & Service design
- Sustainable Material Design & Engineering
- Tools of Public Policy and Governance
- Politics & Development Studies
