Educational Leadership and Curriculum Innovation

Since 2023, Darby has served as Chair of the Product Design Department, overseeing a curriculum aligned with emerging technologies and sustainable strategies to ensure academic instruction reflects modern product development practices. Since 2003, he has mentored and prepared more than 400 graduates for careers in product and industrial design, contributing to a program that boasts a 93% industry placement rate.

He has directed and managed numerous multidisciplinary, corporate-sponsored design studios focusing on diverse applications, from medical devices for Henry Ford Hospital to watches and bicycles for Shinola. Other corporate partners include Whirlpool, Motorola, Garmin, Disney, and Procter & Gamble. Under his mentorship, students have won prestigious honors from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) alongside numerous global design competitions.

Professional Experience

Darby’s professional career spans more than two decades of innovation in consumer products and furniture design. He began his career at Steelcase, where he designed high-end wood office systems and was tasked with the strategic relaunch of Stow & Davis, a heritage American executive furniture manufacturer. He later joined the design consultancy Sundberg-Ferar as a Senior Industrial Designer, serving as design lead for the Kenmore brand, where he was instrumental in introducing the Kenmore Elite line and the first contoured refrigerator door offered in the United States.

Since 2003, Darby has maintained an active consulting practice, providing industrial design, 3D modeling, and prototyping services to a diverse range of Detroit-area clients. His commercial portfolio spans exercise equipment to personal grooming products, earning him a U.S. design patent for an innovative shaver head.

Lectures, Workshops, and Presentations

Darby is a frequent speaker and facilitator on the design thinking process and the future of design education. He has presented at National Art Education Association (NAEA) conventions in New York, Chicago, and New Orleans, and has led workshops for Oakland County Schools’ “Arts First Conference.” His academic outreach includes guest lectures at Oakland University and specialized sessions at the Design/Architecture Senior High School (DASH) in Miami.

Recently, Darby conducted a design workshop at the Michigan Science Center within the “Game Changers” exhibit, shared his design education insights on the Q4D (Questions for Designers) podcast.