Academic : Design : Studio : Emeritus

Steve Belletire
Associate Professor, Industrial Design



Starting in the fall of 1997 Steve became an Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.  The previous 26 years he was a design consultant working with global clients such as 3M, Black & Decker and Gateway.  As part of Joss Design Group, Chicago for 21 years he helped dozens of companies bring hundreds of successful products to commercial, consumer and industrial markets.  His other design experiences include consumer electronics, plus exhibition and point-of-purchase design positions.    

As a design educator his research focuses on issues of sustainable and environmentally appropriate design.  Out of this research Steve became one of three co-creators of Okala, an undergraduate course in ecodesign created for North American design programs. This course provides design educators and students with the knowledge and tools needed to make ecodesign an integral part of the design process.  To date, more than 40 design programs have obtained course materials.

As a continuation of Okala, Steve worked with the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and the EPA to form a funded partnership to help bring tools and knowledge to design professionals.  As chair of the Education workgroup, Steve has organized and conducted field research with corporate and consulting designers to learn about current levels of knowledge and practice pertaining to sustainable design. With this foundation, he and Okala co-creator Philip White developed a new ecodesign workshop for design professionals.  This new workshop was launched at the 2005 IDSA National Conference in Washington DC.