Anijo Punnen Mathew

Anijo Mathew is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. His research evaluates new urban experiences enabled by technology, innovation, and media convergence. As the first Academic Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, he helped the Illinois Tech Provost’s office to build strategies and plans with different academic units across the campus to teach a multidisciplinary approach to design and innovation. He is also the founder and chief experience officer of Vamonde, a Chicago startup and storytelling app. Built in Chicago named the company as one of six Chicago startups shaping the future of virtual reality. He has lectured at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and at Harvard University, through the Harvard i-Lab initiative.

Mathew has a proven record of innovation and entrepreneurship through multidisciplinary collaborations. Before Illinois Tech, he was a tenure-track faculty member at College of Architecture, Art and Design at Mississippi State University (MSState). At MSState, he helped prototype smart technologies for rural populations in collaborative projects with the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory, the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.Mathew has led research teams on policy level discussions and projects with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Cook County Bureau of Asset Management, the Chicago Tribune, Choose Chicago, and Chicago Loop Alliance (CLA). In 2012, he was invited by theCommissioner of Culture, Michelle Boone, to help design urbaninterventions for the Chicago Cultural Plan.

Widely published, Mathew regularly consults on innovation projects with organizations around the world. With companies such as Godrej in India and the Far Eastern Group in Taiwan, he helps leadership teams identify and execute strategic innovation projects. He helped design and implement Global Immersion programs where student teams get embedded in companies to work on projects of strategic value to the organization. These programs have been running since 2011 within companies in India, Brazil, and Taiwan. He has also consulted with Accenture, Hyatt, Motorola Mobility, the Hong Kong Design Centre, Urban Redevelopment Authority [Singapore]/Singapore River One, Gensler, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Artists Coalition, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation. His projects have been exhibitedat the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago City Hall, and the Chicago Cultural Center. He currently serves as a committee member for the Birla Institute of Technology Mesra Alumni Association. He has previously served on committees for Choose Chicago, the advisory board for Chicago Architecture Foundation, and the Board of Directors of the Chicago Loop Alliance.

A native of India, Mathew holds a Ph.D. in computing from The Open University in the United Kingdom, a Masters in Design Studies from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and a professional Bachelor of Architecture from Birla Institute of Technology Mesra in Ranchi, India.