Instruction
My educational work is executed primarily at Rhode Island School of Design, in the Experimental and Foundation Studies Department and the Industrial Design Department, of which I am an alum (ID 2010). I teach a variety of courses, from hands-on machining of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, to design principles, to pattern-making and design for production metal casting for iron and bronze.
I’ve also been a part of teaching workshop intensives through DesignXRI, an economic development non-profit that serves the design sector in Rhode Island through networking events, grants, and educational programming. I’ve taught an intensive workshop on product development for individuals at the beginning of their production journeys, as well as participated in their flagship grant+education program - The Design Catalyst - as a mentor to emergent entrepreneurs.
Below is a small selection of student and mentee work from over the years.
Anonymous student evaluations:
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"In this course and from Matt's teaching, I was able to create projects with a high level of freedom and learn significant technical skills. I really appreciate Matt's guidance in my work- and I'd like to stress the importance in having faculty that own businesses themselves and have deep experience in the world beyond just designing a product- packaging, marketing, financing, operations."
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"I think Matt is the best teacher I've had so far at RISD. The amount of knowledge about ideation, materials, model making, presentations, and just ways of thinking that I have gained this semester is amazing to me. I wish all professors would have his enthusiasm and willingness to teach."
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"Matt is constantly encouraging students to take risks with their projects, try new things, and to question everything. The way he runs the class, and the expectations he sets for us, I belive, have pushed every student to do more than what they initially thought they would. Matt is also always open for discussions and has valuable insights that he is not hesitant to share."
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"Matt is so engaging and obviously enthusiastic about both design and our own personal projects, it generates an energy (at least for me) that pushes me to do more, take risks, and try to be better."
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"Matt often made us try things out so that we would find out for ourselves even though he could've just given us the easy straight answer. I loved this because it planted faith in the student that they could do something, put our knowledge to the test and also gave us first hand experience at finding things out so that things would stick to our brains easier. If things went great, we could also feel even better about our work because we worked harder for it."
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"I had an amazing time in class this semester thanks to Matt. I did not expect to learn as much as I did, or enjoy the class as much as I have. I believe that this class was the most benefitial one that I have had so far in my time at RISD."