Pras Gunasekera

Biography

I am a design educator, researcher and strategist. After graduating from MA Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins (UAL), I co-founded Bidean, a more than profit enterprise in design and mental health and subsequently spent 18 months co-setting up a design studio at HMP Thameside to co-deliver Makeright, a design thinking for prison industries course. I have co-written the chapter ‘Understanding Suicide and Assisted Dying – Why Is ‘Design for Death’ Tricky?’ with Professor Lorraine Gamman in the recent book ‘Tricky Design: The Ethics of Things’.

I am currently a Senior lecturer at CODE: University of Applied Sciences, a Research Fellow on the Erasmus + Fuel4Design project and Academic Support tutor at Central Saint Martins (UAL), where I am also a Research Associate with the Design Against Crime Research Centre.

I'm a self-motivated and enthusiastic professional with over 10 years combined experience in advertising, design, higher education, management consultancy, social innovation and events and exhibitions. More than 3 years experience designing and facilitating small and large scale workshops focused on staff development and cultural engagement. Experience in working with medium to large international client organisations, which has fostered a deep understanding of diverse cultural and business practices. A highly organised, skilled communicator with a proven track record of successful client relationship and project management.