Originally from Cuenca, Ecuador, Luis has a background in Graphic Design. During his undergraduate studies, he started to question about the boundaries of Design, taking him to explore multidisciplinary and research processes as part of the Honors program of the University of Cuenca.
As a Fulbright Grantee, Luis obtained an M.F.A. in Design Research and Strategy, where he explored how Design can contribute to public sector innovation and policy-making processes.
At the same time, Luis was an active member of the Center for Teaching and Learning at IUPUI, where he worked to improve his educational profile and explored how Design Facilitation creates more effective learning environments in universities.
Luis enjoys being part of citizen participation initiatives and projects where he can insert Design methods, processes, and mindsets. In 2019, he was part of a multidisciplinary team that monitored and proposed solutions for a new public bike-sharing system in Cuenca, Ecuador, where he included a user perception component to the entire process, allowing public authorities to consider critical aspects to improve this transportation system.
Lately, he has been part of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) through the Research Jam program, which collaborates with community members, patients, care providers, and other researchers using people-centered design research to improve health research and services and quality of life.
Luis has worked for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the Ecuadorian Corporation for the Development of Research and Academia, the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, and as Adjunct Faculty for the Herron School of Art and Design.
Luis's interests include systems thinking and design research for urban planning and policy-making.