Allen Samuels and School of Social Work alumna Lindsay “Charlie” Brink have developed a set of low-cost products to potentially enhance infant safety during sleep time. (Photo by Steve Culver, The University Record)
A decade after retiring from the University of Michigan, Allen Samuels still helps Wolverines reach their dreams — one design at a time.
Before joining the faculty in 1975, Samuels, professor emeritus and dean emeritus in the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, worked as an industrial designer for companies like Westinghouse, Corning Glass Works, and Black and Decker.
Samuels can trace his love for creating back to his childhood. He says he took things apart, his grandfather often handing him a screwdriver and a clock or other piece of “junk” to keep him busy.
“I wanted to invent things, and that’s what product design really is,” Samuels said. “Our discipline is about the culture. It’s about designing objects that enable humans to enrich the culture.”
After serving as dean of the art school from 1993-99, he retired from the university in 2008.
Nowadays, Samuels spends his time designing products without the pressures of meeting profitability or client goals. Inside his Ann Arbor studio, crammed to the ceiling with prototypes of various colors and shapes, his products often focus on issues of aging, disability and disaster relief.
But even in retirement, Samuels isn’t taking a break from teaching. He uses his spare time to help U-M students develop their own designs and launch businesses that tackle social issues and empower others.
With his years of design experience, Samuels now passes the torch to a new generation of entrepreneurs to use design for the public good.
College of Engineering alumna Laura Murphy connected with Samuels through optiMize, a U-M student community developing social impact projects. Murphy, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Adapt Design, said Samuels collaborated with her startup to help it develop products for people living with disabilities.
“Allen really embraced our work because he does a lot of similar work for elderly and people with disabilities,” Murphy said. “So he began to critique our work and show his perspective on what we were doing. We just really connected and have been working together ever since.”
Samuels and Murphy co-designed a set of inexpensive foam blocks that can be used as positioning devices for people who use wheelchairs. The devices, which allow for varied ways to use a wheelchair and to support posture, are designed so that those who use wheelchairs can feel more comfortable without a hefty price tag, Murphy said.
