Carla Diana is a designer, author, and educator who explores how emerging technologies can enrich everyday life through product design and tangible interaction. As Director of Product Design and Associate Professor at LTU, she leads students in investigating the intersections of form, function, and future tech. Carla is also Design Advisor and former Head of Design for Diligent Robotics, an AI and robotics company building assistants for healthcare environments. There, she shaped the full design vision—from the robot’s physical form to its expressive behaviors using light, sound, and motion.

Carla’s work spans advanced product development, public installations, and speculative design. She has led design efforts at Smart Design and frog, with work featured on the covers of Popular Science, MIT Technology Review, and The New York Times Sunday Review. Her book, My Robot Gets Me (Harvard Business Review Press), offers strategies for designing emotionally intelligent tech products. She is also the author of LEO the Maker Prince, the first children’s book about 3D printing.

Previously, Carla was the founding Head of the 4D Design Program at Cranbrook Academy of Art. She holds an M.F.A. in 3D Design from Cranbrook and a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the Cooper Union.