Hi, my name is Serkan Ekenel.

After a 17-year career as a Microsoft Systems Engineer and network manager, I graduated in Industrial Design at OCAD University (2021) with distinction, in addition to my studies in Art and Design Foundations at the University of London (UK, Distinction 2016). There I was immersed in a multi-disciplinary art and design environment which led me to my focus on product design and development. My previous work experience, where I was responsible for computer network systems providing service to 1,200 users, helped develop and enhance my critical thinking and problem-solving skills — greatly shaping my project management, communication and time management abilities which I now bring to my design career. I see dependency as a major psychological concern in the disabled community and I want to counter this feeling of helplessness. In my experiences working with kids with disabilities I was affected by the seemingly inanimate expressions on many of the children — it seemed to me that they felt like outliers, perhaps even as lesser humans. With my learning experiences in a multi-disciplinary art and design environment I believe that if I can change one aspect of a person’s daily life it will assist them and their care-givers to move forward in other areas. Small steps will lead to bigger and better results overall.

Focused on the field of design for health, my goal is to use creativity, problem-solving skills and research to create assistive devices that will make life better for those living with physical disabilities.