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Northwestern University

Leadership Team

The directors of the Segal Design Institute welcome you to explore our offerings and engage with our community.

Greg Holderfield

Executive Director

Greg Holderfield

Greg Holderfield is executive director of the Segal Design Institute, clinical associate professor, and director of the MMM program. He is a passionate advocate for the power of design and is well known in the field. His design work has been recognized globally with more than 25 design awards, including two prestigious German “Red Dot” awards, Japan's "Good Design" award, and the IF International Design Forum award.

Greg brings to the classroom over 20 years of experience in the innovation space. Most recently he was vice president of design and strategy at ARC Worldwide / Leo Burnett, where he led breakthrough initiatives for McDonald's, P&G, Kellogg's, and Symantec. Previously he was director of strategic design innovation at HLB, working with such clients as Microsoft, Dell, Unilever, SC Johnson & Son, 3M, Wrigley, and LG Electronics. In 2009, he was named to the global design jury for the International Design Excellence Awards.

Greg received his BFA in industrial design from the University of Illinois, where he was recognized with the IDSA Merit Award. He received his MS in product development from Northwestern University.

Kim Hoffmann

Design Education and Strategic Initiatives Lead

Kim Hoffmann leads design education initiatives and strategic projects for the Segal Design Institute. 

Over the past 15 years, she has worked on numerous projects and programs at Segal. She helped start up the Master of Science in Engineering Design Innovation (EDI) program during its first five years, managed operations for the institute overall, and contributed to Segal’s strategic vision as it has grown and evolved. She currently teaches Design Thinking and Doing and Designing Your Life, both foundational courses in human-centered design that are open to all undergraduates at the university. 

Hoffmann also serves as a director of the James Dyson Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to engineering and design education.

Previously, Hoffmann worked in product marketing at Logitech, a major manufacturer of personal digital peripherals, where she helped define and launch new products in the mobile mouse category. She has also worked on numerous product design and development projects as an independent consultant over the years.

In parallel to her other design work, Kim co-founded RedStart Design, a jewelry design firm, with two other designers from Stanford. One of RedStart's pieces, the Subtle Safety Ring, is held in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Michael Peshkin

Engineering Education Lead

Michael Peshkin is a professor of mechanical engineering and is the Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Senior Professor in Design. 

His research is in the fields of human-robot interaction, haptics, sensors, and rehabilitation robotics. He created the core technology of what is now Mako Surgical, and has also co-founded companies in human-assist robotics (Cobotics), rehabilitation robotics (Kinea Design), and tactile display (Tanvas).

Peshkin holds a BS in physics from the University of Chicago and a PhD in physics from Carnegie Mellon University.

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