Joe Ford

Background

About Joe Ford

Hi, my name is Joe. I am an artist, designer, and educator who thinks deeply about our digital culture and how creatives can shape the future. I believe that collaboration across disciplines is the best way to make meaningful change. As a design educator, I emphasize a human-centered approach to help students of all ages tackle any problem they identify. I practice what I preach. My research is highly collaborative, bringing together art, design, science, engineering, agriculture, and public health professionals to address real world issues. Research teams that I helped assemble have received nearly one million dollars in funding from State and Federal funding agencies. These funds support a wide range of ongoing research projects including efforts to reduce PM2.5 pollution from agricultural burning in rural communities to developing new tools for students with dyslexia. I am also the founder of Cumulus Tech, a startup that leverages design thinking and emerging technologies like augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and game design to address public health, education, agriculture and tourism challenges in the Mississippi River Delta.