Biography
There are many people named “Carlos Montana” in the world ( from musicians to biologists, to everything in between!) My full name is Carlos Alberto Montana Hoyos (or Carlos Montana-Hoyos) ….too long, I know, but that’s the custom in my country, where we usually have compound names and use last names from both our parents.
I am a Colombian born Industrial Designer, currently an Associate Professor and convenor of the ID course in the Faculty of Arts & Design, University of Canberra (since 2010). Being a native Spanish speaker, I am also fluent in English, Italian, and Japanese ( and I can understand bits and pieces of Portuguese and French) . My cultural background includes living, studying and working in Italy, Japan, Singapore and Australia. I obtained a Bachelor in Arts from Javeriana University, and after several years of professional practice I was awarded a scholarship from the Japanese Government, Monbukagakusho, obtaining a Master`s degree and a PhD in Design Theory, both cum laude from Kobe Design University (KDU, Japan).
As a professional designer, I have worked in-house for several industries (including Unilever and Colceramica in my country and Whirlpool Europe SRL in Italy), in the areas of package design, electric appliance design, furniture design, lighting design, handcraft design, ceramic design, graphic design, advertisement and product photography. Several of my projects have received multiple design awards and been exhibited internationally. As a design educator and researcher, I was an adjunct assistant professor in the product design engineering course of EAFIT University in Colombia (2001-03), as well as a Fellow and Assistant Professor in the Industrial Design program of the National University of Singapore (2006-10). I have been an invited speaker and keynote speaker in conferences and design events, as well as jury for diverse design competitions, external reviewer, advisor and training consultant for academic and professional design-related entities. I am currently a member of the Design Institute of Australia.
Carlos Montana 