DLX Design Lab

🚀 🇯🇵 🎨
The University of Tokyo is seeking a Professor in design-related research and education to take on a strategic and operational leadership role within the Design-Led Platform at the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS). If you are a design leader with a strong academic background who thrives at the intersection of design, science, and engineering, this is your chance to shape the future of international design innovation.

📍Role & Platform
- The Position: Professor (Design-Related)
- The Platform: You will join the Design-Led X Platform (DLX), leading research and education through the DLX Design Lab and DLX Design Academy.
- The Mission: Bridge design with engineering, science, business, and society to generate transformative ideas and educate the next generation of creative leaders.

💼 Job Details
- Location: Tokyo, Japan (Komaba Campus, Meguro-ku)
- Hours & Type: Full-Time, Permanent
- Start Date: On or after December 1, 2026
- Application Deadline: July 9, 2026

🔎 Who Are We Looking For?
- A strong background in design (particularly as a product designer or related discipline) paired with an academic career.
- A Doctoral degree, PhD, or equivalent professional/academic achievement.
- A proven track record in academic management or design leadership, with experience leading interdisciplinary teams.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills with an international outlook.
- Note: Proficiency in English and Japanese is desirable, but not required!

✨ The University of Tokyo promotes gender equality and warmly welcomes applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds.

👉 Learn more and Apply and here:
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/content/400287923.pd

An Open Call for a Lead Role at the DLX.

Role: Professor (The University of Tokyo)
Research and education related to design.
Serving as a member of the Design-Led X Platform and in a strategic and operational leadership role in UTokyo DLX Design Lab and DLX Design Academy.
Deadline: 9th July 2026

At DLX we:
- Collaborate with researchers on design-led innovation projects.
- Teach and mentor brilliant students exploring design.
- Share design knowledge with professionals beyond academia.
- Build bridges between research and industry.
- Expand global networks and partnerships.

All details here:
https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/content/400287923.pdf

Tomomi Sayuda, our Research Associate at DLX Design Lab, has been selected as Unit Leader of the Service & System category on the Good Design Award 2026 jury this year. Having served as a juror in this unit for the past two years, she has now been entrusted with the distinguished role of Unit Leader — an honor she is deeply grateful to receive. At the same time, she recognizes the profound responsibility this role carries: shaping the direction of contemporary design and its impact on society. She is committed to approaching the evaluation of every submission with fairness, rigor, and renewed dedication.

�DLXデザインラボの助教・左右田智美が、今年度のグッドデザイン賞 2026審査委員会において、サービス・システム部門のユニットリーダーに選出されました。過去2年間、同ユニットの審査員として関わってきましたが、このたびユニットリーダーという名誉ある役職を拝命することとなりました。光栄であると同時に、これからのデザインの方向性を社会的に形づくるという、この役割の重みを改めて深く認識しています。応募作品に対して公平かつ真摯に向き合い、新たな気持ちで審査に臨みます。

Mirai Designers Receives Continued Support for 2026 🥳

We are excited to share that Mirai Designers will continue to receive funding from the Mitsubishi Memorial Foundation for Educational Excellence for 2026.

Mirai Designers is a design-led innovation education program for high school students, offering them the opportunity to tackle real-world challenges and grow into future changemakers.

With this continued support, we will build on the insights and learnings from last year’s incredible participants to deliver an even more evolved program.

📢 Full program details will be announced in April!
If you are a student, educator, or organization interested in what we do, we invite you to stay tuned!

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未来Designers 継続助成のお知らせ 🥳

未来Designersが、2026年度も三菱みらい育成財団の助成を継続して受けることとなりましたことを、大変嬉しくご報告いたします。

未来Designersは、高校生を対象としたデザイン主導のイノベーション教育プログラムであり、実社会の課題に挑戦しながら、未来を創るチェンジメーカーへと成長する機会を提供しています。

本助成により、昨年度の参加者から得た学びを活かし、さらに進化したプログラムを展開してまいります。

📢 プログラムの詳細は4月に発表予定です！
ご関心をお持ちの学生の皆さま、教育関係者、企業・団体の皆さまは、ぜひ続報をお待ちください。

DLX DESIGN ACADEMY
#三菱みらい育成財団 #次世代育成 #デザイン思考 #東大

🎉✨未来Designers 第1期、無事終了！✨🎉

2026年2月28日、高校生デザインイノベーションプログラム「未来Designers by DLX」第1期がフィナーレを迎えました。

2025年10月〜2026年2月の約5か月間、三菱みらい育成財団のご支援のもと、選抜された24名の高校生たちが挑戦🔥

💡デザイン思考
🚀イノベーション
🛠プロトタイピング

を学びながら、アイデアを形にしてきました。

一人ひとりの「未来をつくる力」が
確実に芽生えた時間🌱

ここからどんな未来が生まれるのか…
とても楽しみです✨

参加してくれた皆さん、本当にお疲れさまでした！
そしてありがとうございました🙌

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🎉✨Mirai Designers Cohort 1 Complete!✨🎉

On February 28, 2026, the first cohort of the high school design innovation program “Mirai Designers by DLX” successfully came to a close.

Over the past 5 months (Oct 2025 – Feb 2026), with the generous support of the Mitsubishi Memorial Foundation for Educational Excellence, 24 selected high school students learned about:

💡 Design thinking
🚀 Innovation
🛠 Prototyping

Throughout, they created, tested, and brought their ideas to life!

We’ve witnessed the spark of future changemakers, and we can’t wait to see what kinds of futures they will create next ✨

Huge congratulations, and thank you to all participants! 🙌

DLX DESIGN ACADEMY
#三菱みらい育成財団 #次世代育成 #デザイン思考

Rats in the City is a research-based installation series created by an interdisciplinary team of designers, a scientist, and a photographer that invites audiences to encounter urban rats anew—beyond prejudice. Built from a year of fieldwork across Tokyo, the design materializes the hidden lives of rats into visual and spatial narratives, turning fear into informed curiosity. As rat populations rise globally, the project redefines urban coexistence as a behavioral and systemic challenge rather than a pest issue. Through a series of exhibitions, it fosters a vital shift in public mindset: from “eradicate” to “co-design for coexistence.”

https://www.designlab.ac/rats-in-the-city

都市とネズミ

東京大学獣医動物行動学研究室および写真家・原啓義（はら ひろよし）氏とのコラボレーションによる「都市とネズミ」は、1年にわたる都市のネズミの観察と探求の旅へと来場者を誘い、偏見のない新たな視点で彼らを捉え直す機会をお届けします。
本プロジェクトは、生態学的に多様性を包摂し、レジリエント（しなやかで回復力のある）な都市を築くためのステップとして、人と野生動物の双方が持続可能に暮らせる都市のあり方を描き出します。恐怖ではなく科学に基づいたアプローチを促し、人と都市の野生動物との境界を適切に保ちながら、正しい知識に基づいた共生を呼びかけます。

https://www.designlab.ac/rats-in-the-city

Rats in the City | DLX Design Lab Through three interactive installations paired with photographs by Hiroyoshi Hara, the project invites you to see rats from a fresh perspective—free from prejudice.

Did you know that one of the first self-driving buses in the Greater Tokyo area runs at the University of Tokyo’s Kashiwa Campus?

One of the challenges of testing such emerging technologies is ensuring the safety of everyone involved, including those sharing the road with these buses.

The DLX Design Lab, together with Professor Honma Kentaro, designed a series of road signs for autonomous bus demonstration tests. The goal of the project is to raise public awareness and notify citizens of ongoing testing through clear icons placed both on the road and on the bus.

The route connects the Kashiwanoha-Campus station with the UTokyo Kashiwa campus and can be used by people affiliated with the university. Maybe you’ll catch the bus yourself in the future!

東京大学に自動運転バスが走っているのはご存知でしたか？実は東京大学の柏キャンパスでは、首都圏でいち早く実証実験として自動運転バスを導入しています？この実験では、バスに乗る人だけでなく、道路を利用するすべての人々の安全をどう確保するかが大きな課題になります。

DLXデザインラボでは、本間健太郎教授とともに、この実験のための「道路サイン」をデザインしました。道路の上やバス本体に分かりやすいアイコンを配置することで、実験が行われていることを周囲に伝え、一般の人々の認知を高めることを目指しています。

このバスは、柏の葉キャンパス駅と東大柏キャンパスを結ぶルートを走っていて、大学関係者であれば利用することができます。もしかしたら、近い将来あなた自身がこのバスに乗る日が来るかもしれません！