DESIGN INNOVATIONSEGAL DESIGN INSTITUTE
at the McCORMICK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Hemmant believes that design is creative problem-solving. 

His interest has always been in finding elegant solutions to complex problems and bringing these ideas to life. This has led to work across many disciplines — from architecture to product design, design strategy, corporate consulting and teaching. The common thread among these endeavors has been the application of the iterative design method to create effective decision making and product delivery. 

As Chief Design Officer at the Godrej&Boyce Manufacturing Company Ltd., Hemmant established their Design Innovation Center, articulated the mission and business goals, and created the Design Vision and Implementation Strategy. Most recently, he founded Honest Structures, the company that makes the cleanest, most responsible line of furniture products in the world, and is the only organization that operates completely locally [materials, manufacturing, people] wherever in the world HS products are sold. Made in Chicago for the US. Made in Goa for India.  

In addition to his role as Founder and Principal at Honest Structures, Hemmant is part of the Strategic Design team at Edward Jones, and Executive Director of wheelwell NFP. Prior to this, he has worked and consulted with Sony Electronics, Nike, Fedex, United Airlines, Enedym, TATA Steel and IIM Ahmedabad. 

Creativity is not a lightning bolt, it’s a process. At the same time, it is not a process that can be reduced to an algorithm. Hemmant is excited about the opportunity to teach design at NU, with the aim of giving students problem-solving tools that they can use throughout their careers. In addition to NU, Hemmant has taught and lectured at IIT and NID.

Hemmant is an audiophile who also restores vintage audio equipment. He is a proud supporter and collector of well designed objects, however humble - and he publishes a (mostly) weekly newsletter on Design, Culture and Technology.

What’s next? Re-thinking the nature of the built environment for our time, and a fundamentally different and cleaner way of making buildings.