Franco Lodato
Born (1962-09-29) September 29, 1962
Caracas, Venezuela
NationalityAmerican
Alma materIED Milan
Ingeniería de Diseño Industrial, Instituto Universitario Politécnico "Santiago Mariño"
OccupationIndustrial designer

Franco Lodato is an Italian-American industrial designer, best known for his work in biomimicry.

Career

Lodato has served as an associate professor at the University of Montreal School of Design, designer in residence at the University of South Florida, and as a visiting lecturer at the MIT Media Laboratory. He is the vice president of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), Florida Chapter.[1] Lodato has an honorary doctorate from Universidad Nueva Esparta.

Lodato served as the managing director for the Americas Operation for Pininfarina, a design service for automotive, luxury lifestyle, consumer electronics, and technology industries, where he was instrumental part of the team that developed the Maserati Birdcage 75th. His corporate work assignments and consulting career includes research and design for global enterprises such as Gillette, Coca-Cola, Ferrari-Maserati, Bombardier, Challenger Powerboats, and as a Master Innovator, in Wearable technology for Google-Motorola and VSN Mobil, Inc.

At VSN Mobil, Lodato has created, developed, and implemented a product platform strategy for wearable technology in the areas of Biometrics health, sensing and monitoring, sports dynamics, and telecommunications.[2]

At Motorola, Lodato developed Android Smartphones and Tablet computers, Wi-Fi, 4G, Push-to-talk, and customized hardware solutions utilizing CDMA, UMTS, and IDEN standards. He established new partnerships and licensing agreements with Ferrari, Gucci, Karpersky, Lamborghini, Sprint, Bertone, and Pininfarina. He established technology research and development collaborations with major U.S. and international universities including, MIT, University of Florida, McGill University, Stanford University,Istituto Europeo di Design, Politecnicco di Milano, and IED Torino.

Lodato was the founder of the pre-engineering program at American Heritage School Plantation and an instructor in the program from 2007 to 2015.[3] As of 2019 he is SVP Design & Innovation for Kids2, one of the fastest growing baby product companies in the world.[4] Lodato holds 60 U.S. and 18 international implementation and design patents [5] and is an executive member of the National Academy of Inventors.

Notable designs

Lodato designed the seal for the National Academy of Inventors, an "arrow that girdles the globe, representing the idea that 'innovation moves the world.'".[6]

Woodpecker ice axe designed by Lodato
A sampling of phones designed by Lodato

Bibliography

  • Bernsen, Jens (2004). Bionics in Action: The Design Work of Franco Lodato. StoryWorks DK. ISBN 978-8798871873.
  • Lodato, Franco (2010). "Bionics in Action: The Nature of Invention". Technology & Innovation. 12 (2): 79–88. doi:10.3727/194982410x12858510212160.
  • Lodato, Franco (2005). "The Nature of Design". Design Management Review. 16 (1): 56–61. doi:10.1111/j.1948-7169.2005.tb00008.x.

References

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