Alexander Manu RCA MDA

Director & Founder

Alexander Manu is the Founder and Director of the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity. As principal of a development and applied research consultancy established in 1980 in Toronto, he has been committed to enabling global companies develop policies and strategies that addressed emerging issues through the development of strategic intellectual property and pre-competitive business models. Currently Alexander is involved in the development of new learning ecologies, new strategic business competencies and pre-competitive innovation methods that integrate a broad range of skills; he specializes in the application of play behavior in strategic innovation methodologies, new economic and business models and the creation of compelling user experiences. Read full bio...

 

Michelle DesGroseilliers bdes AOCAD

Manager of Research & Operations

In addition to her role in research and development activities at the BISC, Michelle DesGroseilliers acts as the organizational hub for the information gathering and creative concept generation of the rest of the creative team. As a creative consultant for numerous clients, including D3: Discover|Define|Design, the incubator which would eventually become the BISC, she has worked in the development of intellectual property, information hierarchies and website architecture, managing, developing, and editing creative content, taking projects from raw data to completed, fully functional websites. These experiences contributed to the composition of a skill suite including information structuring, mapping and presentation; creative writing and editing; resource management; product-specific innovation scenario generation and innovation and technology research. Read full bio...

Matthew Jones BSc AOCAD

Insight Lead

A philosophical and intuitive member of the creative team at the BISC, Matthew Jones puts his diverse educational background to work by tackling the big questions and seeing the whole picture, often taking a position beyond accepted boundaries and inspiring unusual angles of approach. Before graduating with an Associate's Diploma in Industrial Design from the Ontario College of Art & Design, Matthew studied Discrete Mathematics at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He completed his Bachelor of Science with honours in 2000, demonstrating an exceptional aptitude for the subtlety of rigorous logical processes. Read full bio...

 

Mathew Lincez BDes

Foresight Lead

Mathew Lincez is a key innovation generator on the creative team at the BISC, using his sharp research skills to bring unique and startling concepts and innovations to the table. Mathew has had a life-long interest in urban art in public space, and is a nationally recognized urban artist. His work has been displayed in the Art Gallery of Ontario and published globally, most notably in Under Pressure Magazine in 2001. His interest in urban art forms, especially those which transgress socio-cultural boundaries, has led to an awareness of alternative forms of visual language, semiotics, and iconography. As well, an exhaustive inquiry into Remix culture has generated a dynamic understanding of this emerging force, empowering creative awareness and participation and signaling a fundamental shift towards new models of human behaviour. Read full bio...

Robert K Logan BSc PhD

Research Affiliate

Bob Logan, a Professor Emeritus (Dept. of Physics) at the University of Toronto, is a prolific researcher, writer and consultant whose professional history and research encompasses an extensive, interdisciplinary range of knowledge and practice. An award-winning writer with current concentrations in linguistics, media ecologies, emerging behaviour models, education and technological impact, Bob has consulted for Pierre Trudeau, written with Marshall McLuhan, and has contributed to innumerable organizations and boards as member and director. As well, Bob has taught physics and communications for over four decades. Read full bio...

 

Greg Van Alstyne BA

Research Affiliate

An Associate Professor at the Ontario College of Art & Design, Greg Van Alstyne is an accomplished design educator and creative director who brings a diverse portfolio of interaction and graphic design, art direction and management, and concept generation to the BISC. Greg was the inaugural Director of the Institute without Boundaries, a post-graduate, interdisciplinary design program established between Bruce Mau Design and George Brown – Toronto City College. He directed and mentored student teams in the conception, design and production of the multi-platform Massive Change project, facilitating major exhibitions, various texts and products, public events and the project's graphic identity. Read full bio...

Michele Perras BFA

Research Associate

Michele Perras is an intuitive and analytical member of the creative team at the BISC, whose multidisciplinary professional experience and focus on human-centred, interaction design supports a diverse scope of research. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Material Art & Design from the Ontario College of Art & Design, Michele developed an extensive portfolio of skills through her design studio, exhibiting her work nationally and garnering media acclaim and awards. She has provided consulting services for various commercial art galleries and agencies, and has been published with organizations and magazines such as Spacing and OCAD. Michele's research concentrates on the intersections between narrative construction, spatiality, experience mapping and mobility. Read full bio...

Richard Thomas bdes

Research Associate

Currently completing his Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design at the Ontario College of Art & Design, Ricky excels at the retrieval of meaning and knowledge by recognizing the potential in disruptive behaviours and mapping the multiple layers of experience. His acute awareness of method and structure discerns the manifest factors of chaotic environments, strategically parsing dynamic systems for networks and pattern. With a focus on participatory content development and concept generation, Ricky has worked and interned as a consultant for publishing and design firms, in graphic and product design, illustration, art direction and editing. He also contributed to the inquiry surrounding future possibilities and direction with ORION, a research and education network linking research institutions, universities and colleges in Ontario. Read full bio...

Kelly Seagram

Research Assistant

An analytical and prolific developer of creative and economic disclosures, Kelly Seagram brings a lateral and incisive perspective to the creative team at the BISC. She has worked and interned as a researcher, writer and consultant in business development, media and publishing, and public relations with various companies such as Nike Canada, CTV News and Canadian Living Magazine. In addition, Kelly has provided marketing and outreach services to the Lexington, Kentucky Arts & Cultural Council, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Ontario College of Art & Design. She is currently completing her Bachelor's degree in Industrial Design at OCAD. Read full bio...

Priscilla Li

Research Assistant

Priscilla joined the BISC in the summer of 2006 as one of two first place winners in the Beal Inaugural Duality & Dataspace competition. Priscilla’s entry paper, “Vego” was a thought experiment based on the relationship between users and their avatars in an Internet of Things environment. Priscilla’s research in the Duality in Dataspace project has branched out into a variety of explorations, including Socialpedia, a study of how ideas respond to other ideas and how they function as an ecological system under a re-examined vision of Marshal McLuhan’s vision of a Global Village, and how these ideas tie into the Future of Media. Read full bio...

Terry Woods bdes

Research Assistant

Terry joined the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity in the summer of 2006. He has recently completed his Industrial Design Thesis “Canadian Craft Connection” at the Ontario College of Art and Design.

 

Mark Poon bdes

Research Assistant

Mark joined the BISC in the summer of 2006 as one of two first place winners in the Beal Inaugural Duality & Dataspace competition. He also won 2nd and 3rd place for the Annual OCAD design competition in 2004 and 2005. Read full bio...

Mark Outhwaite BDes

Research Assistant

Mark Outhwaite has functioned within the Beal Institute as an assistant researcher since May of 2006. Before attending OCAD, Mark spent a period learning the art of illustration and becoming conversant in the languages of math and science, along with various other constructive pursuits of an entirely impractical nature. These qualities have found within the Beal a deeper and more expansive medium in which to grow. Having completed the entirety of his studies in the Ontario College of Art and Design’s program of industrial design, he brings applied curiosity and insights into the possibilities of a computational future, so as to develop a higher resolution image of the territories where digital cultures reside.

Sady Ducros BDES

Research Assistant

Sady Ducros is an industrial designer and consultant whose diverse background and vast experience in a range of artistic and design disciplines are central to his human-centred approach to all facets of design. His interests include human natures and behaviour, exploring those profound and often unique attributes that make us human and drawing design insights from diverse fields including anthropology, biology, psychology, linguistics, communication, semiotics, cognitive sciences and artificial intelligence. Read full bio...

Jae Yeon (Jasmin) Kwak bdes

Research Assistant

Jae Yeon’s diverse range of skills and experience compliments the creative team at the BISC. Her strong leadership capabilities and exceptional communication abilities have been extensively developed through her work in graphic and industrial design and her experience with creative direction. Jae Yeon is the BISC Liaison with the Seoul Design Centre in Korea, a relationship that focuses on the development of key business strategies and opportunities which align the BISC's methods, philosophies and practice with Korea's current economic and industrial climate. She recently completed her Bachelor of Industrial Design degree at the Ontario College of Art & Design, and will be attending the Domus Academy to begin her Masters Degree in the coming fall.

Annie Spencer

Research Assistant

Annie Spencer is a writer, poet and new media artist whose courageous and refreshing attitude, along with an abstract conceptual approach, has led her to recently join the BISC team in their explorations. Her sensitive and integrative thinking around the human experience, as well as her own creative pursuit to develop interactive storytelling experiences, provides her with a sharp angle to help shape the BISC ecology and consult on a diverse range of topics. Read full bio...

Isabelle Rousset

Research Associate

Realizing at an impressionable age that anything is possible provided the dedication of time and energy, Isabelle has worked freely at detecting and exercising options. First love film: Isabelle graduated from film history and production at the Ontario College of Art & Design, but curiosity, intuition, and aptitude for change provoked rapid medium shifts. Post-grad, Isabelle worked with independent filmmakers while expanding her technical repertoire to include digital production and web-based dissemination initiatives internationally. Isabelle has amassed a range of experience in a variety of industries including product design and brand development, representing and building a diverse clientèle and portfolio before joining the Beal Institute. Her ability to continuously and truthfully explore avenues and insights through approaching questions big and small from the perspective that we have "a gift for being human" allows her to find potential and relevance in all her undertakings.

Ilkka Heino

Research Assistant

A recent BA graduate of the University of Art and Design Helsinki School of Industrial Design minoring in International Design Business Management (IBDM), Ilkka joined the Beal in the beginning of March 2007 in co-operation with the IDBM Programme, collaborating on Beal projects as well as working on his own independent research in support of his Master's thesis. Read full bio...

Denise Pinto

Research Assistant

Denise is an articulate designer and conceptual word smith. She is superbly interested in language, methods, meanings and ethos. If pressured for a concise description, she would interpret herself as constantly fascinated with the human condition. She brings a voracious curiosity to creative collaborations at the BISC, applying an intuitive process and a sense of verbal fluency to the production of innovation frameworks. Denise is currently completing her Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design at the Ontario College of Art and Design where she seeks to charge her ideas with multivalent social contexts.

Jenn Court BDES

Research Assistant

A graduate of the industrial design program at OCAD, Jennifer is currently completing her Master’s degree in Environmental Studies, and a concurrent graduate diploma in Business and the Environment. In her work she bridges the disciplines of environmental studies, industrial design, and education, with a focus on real world applicability. Specifically, she is interested in the consequences of life in the built environment, particularly practical ways to integrate ecologically responsible practices into urban life. She brings these interests to her work at the Beal, where her major project will involve an examination of the current environmental movement, and its connection to human behaviour. Read full bio...

Adam Hotchin B.Sc.

IT Lead

Adam Hotchin graduated from the University of Waterloo with a B.Sc. in Physics and a specialization in Astrophysics. The appearance of World Wide Web careers occurred at the same time, and so he has been learning and working in this field ever since. In addition to providing IT support and direction to the BISC, Adam was partly responsible for providing the first on-line store in Canada to allow consumers to order phones and service over the Internet, as well as consulting for several multi-national corporations.