Erik Asia is a Filipino industrial designer, researcher, and educator currently based in Vancouver, 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 completed his Master of Design (Interaction) at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, Canada 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.

Curriculum Vitae

Current Role(s)

• 2025 - PRESENT: Product Development Designer (Consultant) | Genome British Columbia, CA
• 2024 - PRESENT: Sessional Faculty | Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
  

Past Experiences

• 2024: Experimental Interaction Designer | A&K Robotics, CA
• 2024: Research Assistant for CAREB-ACEER Showcase Hall Poster Submission | Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
• 2024: Section Editor for From & Beyond Design (book)
• 2023: Graduate Teaching Fellow | Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
• 2023: Industrial Design Research Assistant for Mulplane Animation Stand Project | Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
• 2023: Graduate Orientation Lead | Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
• 2023: Research Assistant for Research Ethics Writing Group | Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
• 2023: Graduate Teaching Assistant | Emily Carr University of Art + Design, CA
• 2020 - 2021: Industrial Designer / Student Researcher for reBIRTH project | UPD Humanitarian Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Design (HEED) Research Group, PH
• 2021: Product Design and Development Intern | A2 Design Lab, PH
• 2021: Product Design Intern | BookSpine PH, PH
• 2020: Designer | Cloop Technologies, PH
• 2019 - 2020: Fabrication Lab Intern | UP College of Fine Arts Fabrication Lab, PH

Education

• 2022 - 2024: Master of Design (Interaction) | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
• 2018 - 2022: Bachelor of Fine Arts (Industrial Design), Magna Cum Laude | University of the Philippines Diliman

Awards

• 2024: Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) Post-graduate Teaching Fellowship Nominee
• 2021: Bakong Circular Design Challenge Finalist
• 2020: James Dyson Awards Philippine National Winner 
• 2020: Alfredo M. Yao Intellectual Property Awards Finalist

Publications

• 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.

Conferences

• 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

Exhibitions

• 2024: The Show, graduate student exhibition | ECUAD
• 2022: The Exit Project (ExP), online graduation exhibition | UPD
• 2020: Silaw | UPD
• 2019: IDiD Industrial Design Year-end Exhibition | UPD