In addition to teaching at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, Avinash is
directly involved with R&D in the bamboo sector. For over two decades, he has
worked with bamboo artisans and collectives, particularly in Northeast India
(NER), through design and technical interventions under various projects funded
by UNDP, UNIDO, National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA), and KVIC,
among others. For instance, under the UNIDO project, ‘Cane and Bamboo
Technological Up-gradation and Networking’, he designed a knock-down sofa
chair that artisans and entrepreneurs in NER have been producing and selling
across India and abroad. His numerous designs and innovations in bamboo craft
have received wide recognition including through the Good Design Award (USA,
2014), Interior Innovation Award (IMM Cologne, 2013), Nominee – German
Design Award 2014. Currently, as an Associate Professor at IIT Bombay, Avinash
is working on a project sponsored by a CEED grant on two aspects of bamboo
products – design and development of utility products using the traditional
bamboo weaving style of NER; and production of design molds to meet market
demand for such utility products.
Avinash is engaged in an advisory role with Uravu Eco Links on R&D in the
bamboo sector, with a focus on design and dissemination with artisan
collectives.
Avinash Shende
