Leila Ensaniat

Faculty, SJSU Industrial Design Program

Email: Leila.ensaniat@sjsu.edu

Website: Leilaensaniat.com

Leila Ensaniat is a creative Industrial Designer with a strong track record at Cisco, specializing in consumer electronic products. She is passionate about creating value through human-centered design, leveraging insights into human experiences to develop innovative solutions. Leila develops strategies and experiences that shape the future and thrives in collaborative, cross-functional environments, working with diverse teams to uncover new opportunities.

Leila has contributed to projects for notable companies, including Cisco Systems, ASUS, the Metal Finishing Association of Southern California, and Egghead Ventures. Her work has earned her several prestigious awards, such as the ASUS Intellectual Property Purchase Award for designing new laptops for the ProArt series, the Gold A' Design Award in Home Appliances Design, the Red Dot Design Award in Concept Design, the Hot Wheels Design Award for the Formula E Race Car Competition, and the Best Tactical Design Award for OXO and MoMA.

She holds a Bachelor's degree (BFA) in Industrial Design from the University of Tehran, a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Product Design from Tehran University of Art, and a Master of Science in Industrial Design & System Innovation from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Currently, she serves as an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design in the Department of Design at San José State University.

Leila's expertise includes a focus on Color, Material, and Finish (CMF), manufacturing processes, and Industrial Design. She is also engaged in research on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR), exploring how these technologies can be integrated into the design process to solve problems and drive innovation.