Department of Applied Design

Education

• Master of Industrial Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
• Bachelor of Arts, Product Design, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá - Colombia

Teaching and Research Interest(s)

• Jimena Vergara Sanz is a Colombian industrial designer, artist, and Fulbright scholar with over 17 years of professional and entrepreneurial experience. Her work centers on human-centered design, with a focus on disability, sustainability, and the relationship between people and objects as a site for meaning-making and social change.

  Her research explores accessible, human-centered approaches to 3D-printed prosthetics, expanding both functionality and personal expression. Drawing from her lived experience of being born without her right hand, she approaches prosthetic design as an opportunity to shift stigma into statement—reframing assistive devices as empowering, identity-driven artifacts.

  She engages Transition Design as a framework for long-term social transformation and is the founder of 13 Moons, a project exploring design as a tool for cultural reflection and systemic change. Jimena also serves as a board member of the IDSA Women in Design Committee.

Something Fun

• When I'm not on campus, you can find me hiking, swimming, camping, meditating or doing art.