Email: zhaochao@tsinghua.edu.cn
Academic Title
Tenured Professor
Positions
·Associate Dean, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University
·Vice President, International Council of Design (ICoD)
·Associate Dean, Tsinghua Qingdao Academy of Arts and Sciences
·Director, Institute of Health and Medical Industry Innovation Design, Tsinghua University
·Secretary-General, Design Teaching Steering Committee, Ministry of Education
Dr. Zhao Chao specializes in interdisciplinary and cross-cultural design research and innovation, integrating culture, technology, aesthetics, and business through design innovation to realize the social attributes, human-centered experiences, and sustainable development of design. In recent years, Dr. Zhao has focused on research, teaching, and industry practice in areas such as experience design, healthcare design, human-centered design, aging design, social innovation, and cultural migration design.
In teaching, Dr. Zhao is dedicated to cultivating exceptional art and design talents with international perspectives, social awareness, and innovative spirit through practical education. During his nearly decade-long leadership in industrial design program development, he established a talent cultivation framework that integrates knowledge dissemination, skill development, and value formation. He built a teaching ecosystem centered on core courses, corporate internships, and international exchanges, and developed a three-tier knowledge system integrating theory, skills, and methodologies at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. Through educational reforms, he has fostered the development of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural design leaders. He co-established the Global Innovation Design Joint Graduate Program with the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London, which won the First Prize in Graduate Teaching Awards. Collaborating with the School of Medicine, he integrated art and design with bioengineering to develop Tsinghua’s first honors general education course, cultivating translational medical leaders proficient in engineering, medicine, humanities, and art.
In research, Dr. Zhao has led numerous product and service innovation design projects for national ministries and major enterprises, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, CRRC Corporation, Hisense Group, Midea Group, Boeing, and P&G. He has published 9 academic monographs and textbooks in Chinese and English and has presented over 100 papers and keynote speeches at major international design research conferences. His design projects have won numerous prestigious awards, including the Red Dot Design Award, China Good Design Gold Award, Red Star Design Award, National Fine Arts Exhibition Excellence Award, China Emergency Rescue Innovation Design Gold Award, and National Key New Product Award. His works have been exhibited in Germany, the U.S., Australia, Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, and others, and are collected by institutions such as the Red Dot Design Museum, National Museum of China, China Art Museum, and Zhejiang Art Museum.
Dr. Zhao is committed to promoting the globalization of design and holds prominent positions in numerous international and domestic industry associations and academic organizations. He was elected Vice President of the International Council of Design, Deputy Director of the Industrial Design Committee of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, Deputy Director of the Education Committee of the China Fashion & Color Association, and Vice President of the China Simulation Technology Industry Alliance. He serves as an expert judge for many prestigious design awards, including the Russian Innovative Design Award, Asia-Europe Design Award, Dyson Design Award, Red Star Award, National University Student Industrial Design Competition, Beijing Capital Science and Technology Support Project, and Taiwan Golden Pin Design Award. As a curator, Dr. Zhao has organized art and design exhibitions at venues such as the National Museum of China, Paris Cultural Center, Brussels Cultural Center, Sendai Media Center, Dubai Design Week, and Yekaterinburg Industrial Expo, actively promoting international design exchange.
Dr. Zhao has served as a visiting researcher or faculty member at institutions such as Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University, and Hong Kong Design Institute. He has received numerous accolades, including the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad, the Ministry of Education’s New Century Outstanding Talent Award, the Australian Government’s Alumni Award for Excellence in China-Australia Relations, China’s Top Ten Outstanding Young Designers, and the Beijing Excellence in Teaching Award.
