Javier de la Fuente

Javier de la Fuente is chair of the Industrial Technology, Packaging, and Entrepreneurship Area and associate professor in Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business, where he teaches design thinking, product and packaging design, and healthcare packaging. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Universidad de Monterrey, teaching graduate courses in product usability and innovation.

His mentorship has helped Cal Poly packaging students earn national and international recognition in major design competitions, including IoPP AmeriStar, WPO WorldStar Student, and the PPA Student Design Challenge. In 2019, he received Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing Scholar Award with Professors Irene Carbonell and Mary LaPorte for research on design thinking in packaging innovation education.

With a background in industrial design, graphic design, packaging, and scientific research, de la Fuente focuses on design-driven innovation, usability, affordances, inclusive design, and mobile eye-tracking methods for physical product testing. He has authored more than 40 publications and is co-founder of Factor IDD, a design and innovation consulting firm.

Education

• Ph.D., Packaging, Field of study: Human-package interaction, Michigan State University, 2013
• M.S., Packaging, Field of study: Universal design and child-resistant packaging, Michigan State University, 2006
• B.I.D., Industrial Design, Summa cum laude, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 1998