Erik Asia is a Filipino industrial designer, educator, and researcher currently based in BC, Canada. His design and research practices surround his interests in affordance-based design, discursive design, digital fabrication, and design education, all grounded in principles of embodied cognition.
He holds a Master of Design (Interaction) from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Industrial Design) from the University of the Philippines Diliman.
Through his design and research, Erik seeks to develop a conscious awareness of our physical interactions and engagements with the world, highlight designed objects as cultural and social artefacts for discourse, and create tangible learning tools through digital fabrication that emphasizes embodied cognition principles in design pedagogy.
01/2025 - PRESENT
Product Development Designer (Consultant)
Genome British Columbia, CA
08/2024 - PRESENT
Sessional Instructor
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
05/2024 - 06/2024
Experimental Interaction Designer
A&K Robotics, CA
04/2024
Research Assistant for CAREB-ACEER Showcase Hall Poster Submission
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
09/2023 - 12/2023
Graduate Teaching Fellow
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
06/2023 - 10/2023
Industrial Design Research Assistant for Multiplane Animation Stand Project
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
01/2023 - 08/2023
Conducting Creative Research (CCR) Research Assistant
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
01/2023 - 04/2023
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
07/2020 - 12/2021
Industrial Designer / Student Researcher for reBIRTH project
University of the Philippines Diliman Humanitarian Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Design (UPD HEED) Research Group, PH
07/2021 - 08/2021
Product Design and Development Intern
A2 Design Lab, PH
05/2021 - 07/2021
Product Design Intern
BookSpine, PH
09/2019 - 05/2020
Fabrication Lab Intern
University of the Philippines Diliman College of Fine Arts Fabrication Lab, PH
09/2022 - 05/2024
Master of Design (Interaction)
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
Thesis: The In Between (Cognitive Ergonomics Evaluation in Public Spaces: A Cultural-Affordance-Based Approach)
08/2018 - 07/2022
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Industrial Design)
University of the Philippines Diliman, CA
*Graduated Magna Cum Laude
2024
AICAD Post-graduate Teaching Fellowship Nominee
Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD)
2021
Bakong Circular Design Challenge Finalist
Design Center of the Philippines
2020
Philippine National Winner
James Dyson Awards
2020
Finalist
Alfredo M. Yao Intellectual Property Awards
Asia, E. D. (2024). The In Between (Cognitive Ergonomics Evaluation in Public Spaces: A Cultural-Affordance-Based Approach). https://doi.org/10.35010/ecuad:18444
Asia, E. (2024). The In-Between (Cognitive Ergonomics Evaluation in Public Spaces: A Cultural- Affordance-Based Approach). In S. Mroke (Ed.), From & Beyond Design: A Collection of Design Research Explorations (pp. 36-41). Occasional Press.
Asia, E. (2022). WHITESPACE: A Minimal and Interactive Wall-mounted Time Visualization Tool for Self-Directed Learners that Emphasizes a Healthy Work-Life Balance through Time Blocking [Unpublished undergraduate thesis]. University of the Philippines Diliman.
Asia, E., Klassen, L., Webb, H. (2024, April 30 – May 2). Reaching for Tools: Gaps in Awareness of Research Ethics and Responsible Conduct of Research in Art and Design Scholarship [Poster presentation]. CAREB-ACCER 2024 Virtual Conference, Canada. https://tinyurl.com/53jusrzn
2024
The Show ,graduate exhibition (in-person & online)
Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
2022
The Exit Project (ExP) ,graduate exhibition (online)
University of the Philippines Diliman, PH
2020
Silaw
University of the Philippines Diliman, PH
2019
IDiD! Industrial Design Year-End Exhibition
University of the Philippines Diliman, PH