Louise Manfredi, PhD, joined the industrial and interaction design program within the School of Design as an assistant professor in 2017.

Before joining Syracuse University, Manfredi was an assistant professor at Millersville University of Pennsylvania in applied engineering, safety, and technology. She has also held non-teaching positions as a grant manager at the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) and as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago, studying the influence of finger skin biomechanics on somatosensory processing.

Manfredi’s primary research interest centers on sustainable product development and how the decisions designers and engineers make affect the environment during the life cycle of these products. She is particularly focused on the development of sustainable/environmentally conscious toolkits that give future designers access to cutting-edge techniques in product development and manufacture. She is also interested in the assessment and development of polymer alternatives in the prototyping phase of product development. These materials should be biodegradable, unlike the polystyrene-based materials that are commonplace in the field of design.

Manfredi is an active member in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and the Design Research Society (DRS). She holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering (2011) and a B.Des. in product design (2006) from the University of Leeds, UK.