Photograph by Holson House
TOM WEIS
Tom Weis is an Assistant Professor in the Industrial Design department at the Rhode Island School of Design. Weis works with a team of faculty to guide graduate students through their year-long thesis projects. His undergraduate courses include such topics as advanced prototyping, aquaponics and global security. Drawing upon a background in sculpture, cabinetry and wooden boatbuilding, Weis pursued Industrial Design to further develop a creative process. It is this process that has led his work into such places as the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2010 and the Mass General Hospital’s Russell MD Museum of History and Innovation. Weis is the co-founder of the design firm, Hello, we are _____ . Since 2015, Weis has explored how design and creativity might work to reduce nuclear threats. He has presented at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Disruptive Futures Nuclear Weapons Summit and has led collaborative workshops between design students and cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. His current work involves a multidisciplinary team developing new concepts and approaches for the verification of nuclear materials and treaty obligations.