Nithikul Nimkulrat

nnimkulrat@ocadu.ca
Professor, Tenured
Faculty of Design
craft research
Digital Fabrication
embodiment
experiential knowledge
textiles

Dr. Nithikul Nimkulrat is a textile artist, design researcher, and Full Professor in the Faculty of Design at OCAD University, Toronto, where she teaches in the Material Art & Design program and was Acting Chair of the program in 2020–2023. She holds a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), an MA in Textile Art and Design, and a Doctor of Arts in Design from Aalto University (Finland).

Nithikul has held full-time academic appointments at Aalto University (2004–2010), Loughborough University (2011–2013), and Estonian Academy of Arts (2013–2018), where she served as Professor and Head of Textile Design. She joined OCAD U in 2018 as Tenured Associate Professor and, since 2024, has been Full Professor. During her 2024–2025 sabbatical, she was Visiting Professor at Politecnico di Milano, contributing to interdisciplinary research on prototyping and experiential knowledge.

Her research integrates creative practice with scholarly inquiry, focusing on materiality, experiential knowledge, and craft as a method of thinking. She is the Convener of the Design Research Society’s Special Interest Group on Experiential Knowledge (EKSIG) (2013–present) and formerly chaired the Cumulus Fashion and Textiles Working Group (2016–2023).

Her scholarly contributions include one single-authored book, five edited volumes, and over 60 peer-reviewed publications. Recent titles include Craft and Design Practice from an Embodied Perspective (Routledge, 2024) and Prototyping and Experiential Knowledge (FrancoAngeli, 2025). She also contributes chapters to major reference works such as the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Textiles and Springer’s Handbook of the Mathematics of the Arts and Sciences. Her textile artworks have been exhibited internationally, most recently in the solo exhibition Remembered & Forgotten (2025), which explores memory and loss through knotted paper sculptures, at Craft Ontario.

In recognition of her research excellence, Dr. Nimkulrat received the OCAD University Award for Distinguished Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity in 2022–2023. She actively mentors emerging scholars and has supervised and examined numerous PhD projects in design and related fields, fostering innovative research across international institutions.