Leila Aflatoony
Assistant Professor, School of Industrial Design
Contact
Leila Aflatoony
Assistant Professor, School of Industrial Design
Education
- Ph.D., Interactive Arts and Technology (Interaction Design), Simon Fraser University, 2015
- M.Sc., Product Service System Design, Politecnico di Milano, 2009
- M.A., Visual Communication, Tehran University of Art, 2006
- B.A., Graphic design (with high distinction), Soore University, 2003
Biography
Leila Aflatoony is an assistant professor in the School of Industrial Design at Georgia Institute of Technology with expertise in interaction design, assistive technologies, and co-design methods. Her research employs participatory design approaches with non-traditional design communities, particularly DIY makers in the health sector, to develop tools, methods, and technologies that empower these groups and ultimately enhance the living conditions for people with disabilities.
Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Aflatoony was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia, where she developed, co-taught, and evaluated graduate-level courses for Designing for People (DFP), focusing on human-centered interactive technologies. She holds a Ph.D. in Interaction Design from the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University, where she worked in the Everyday Design Studio.
Statement of Teaching Interest
Dr. Aflatoony’s teaching guides students through participatory and speculative design processes to co-create adaptive artifacts and computational systems with communities of people with disabilities, reimagining the future of assistive technology through transformative approaches that advance accessibility, empowerment, and community impact.
Statement of Research Interest
Dr. Aflatoony’s research focuses on accessible making, empowering DIY makers through participatory design, digital fabrication, and computational design (e.g., AI-assisted fabrication) to create personalized assistive technologies. She develops tools and methods that enable makers, caregivers, and self-fabricators to design adaptive devices, advancing more transformative and inclusive approaches to assistive technology design.