Fernando Del Caro Secomandi

Fernando Del Caro Secomandi is an Assistant Professor of Service Design for Emerging Technologies at the Delft University of Technology's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. He holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Design from Esdi-Uerj, Brazil (2003), an MSc in Strategic Product Design from TU Delft (2007), and a PhD in Design from TU Delft (2012). His academic profile is housed within the Design, Organisation and Strategy department, where he contributes to research and teaching at the intersection of design, philosophy, and emerging technologies.

Secomandi's educational background reflects a strong foundation in industrial design with progressive specialization in strategic and philosophical aspects of design. His academic journey began in Brazil before continuing at TU Delft, where he completed both his master's and doctoral studies, establishing his long-standing relationship with the institution.

His research focuses on service design and postphenomenology, with particular emphasis on designers' contributions to social justice in emerging technologies through form-giving practices. Secomandi develops conceptual frameworks for the design of technology-mediated human freedom, drawing on Hegelian notions of intersubjective recognition. His work spans multiple sectors including healthcare, where he co-leads the 'First 1000 Days' ambition within the Healthy Start program, and the legal sector, where he is a member of the 'Center for Law, Design, and AI' and co-director of the 'Justice by Design' lab.

Secomandi's scholarly output demonstrates a consistent trajectory toward critical examinations of power structures in design, ethical considerations in human-technology relations, and the philosophical underpinnings of service design. His recent publications increasingly focus on design justice, systemic oppression in service ecosystems, and the ethical dimensions of emerging technologies, reflecting his commitment to advancing social justice through design practice and theory.

• Elected member of the International Advisory Council (2024-2030) of the Design Research Society
• Selected article 'The Object of Service Design' for Design Issues 30th Anniversary Collection (2014)
• Deputy Editor of Design Studies (2021-2023)
• Associate Editor of the Journal of Human-Technology Relations (2021-present)
• Senior Editor of Designing, the upcoming journal of the Design Research Society

Secomandi has extensive teaching experience across undergraduate, graduate, and post-professional levels in both Dutch and Brazilian universities. He recently introduced the course 'Design Justice and Emerging Technologies' for TU Delft's MSc Design for Interaction program. His administrative experience includes senior positions at Rio de Janeiro State University (Esdi-Uerj), where he served as Vice Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Design (2015-2018) and Coordinator of Research (2016-2019). He currently co-directs the 'Justice by Design' lab as part of the Delft Design Labs at TU Delft, contributing to interdisciplinary research at the intersection of law, design, and artificial intelligence.