Dedication

  Christopher is a multidisciplinary professional, author, researcher, and entrepreneur specializing in smart cities, AI-enabled urban systems, and the integration of human, technological, and environmental systems. With more than thirty years of international experience across urban planning, architecture, real estate development, and digital innovation, his work focuses on designing and operationalizing next-generation city operating models.

He has held Visiting Professor appointments at leading global institutions including Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, Parsons School of Design in New York, Tsinghua University in Beijing, the University of Reading UK (Henley Business School), the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Boston Architectural Center. Kirwan completed graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS), a pioneering program in the convergence of art, science, and technology, and holds a Bachelor of Architecture and Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

 His publications focus on autopoietic city models, collective intelligence, City OS architecture, and the future of AI-driven urban design. His works include the first and second editions of Smart Cities and Artificial Intelligence: Convergent Systems for Planning, Design, and Operations (Elsevier), along with a series of related publications advancing the field of urban intelligence.  

Kirwan’s professional practice spans decades of living, working, and leading major initiatives across Riyadh, London, New York, Beijing, Dubai, Seoul, Milan, and Rio de Janeiro. He has advised governments, ministries, city authorities, and private-sector organizations on digital transformation, urban operating systems, and large-scale smart city strategies. He is the CEO of AI Convergence Ltd., advancing platform-agnostic AI architectures.

  Zhiyong  is a tenured Associate Professor and doctoral supervisor at the Department of Information Art and Design, Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University. He directs the Art and Technology Innovation Base and serves in key leadership roles, including President of the International Chinese Association of Human-Computer Interaction (ICACHI), Secretary-General of the IIDC, and co-founder of the Global Design Futures Network (GDFN). He is also an expert advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture’s GIAHS program and a board member of the China-Europe Alliance for Arts and Humanities Education.

He teaches interaction and service design, design thinking, and innovation, with research focusing on intelligent product design, smart cities, and design futures. Fu has led over 20 national and international research projects, including those for GIAHS, the Beijing Winter Olympics mixed reality system, and future-oriented HMI for BMW and Porsche. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Tsukuba and Carnegie Mellon University, and was awarded the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talents Program.

Fu’s research centers on futures-driven design innovation, framed by his model of Future Orientation – Value Leadership – Art-Tech Integration – Practice Verification. He has developed key methods like Provocative Prototyping and Future Footprint, with real-world applications in cultural heritage, AI urbanism, and product development. He founded and chaired three editions of the International Conference on Design Futures and actively promotes global education in this emerging field. His contributions have earned him Top 1% Highly Cited Scholar status in Design Studies (CNKI, 2024), and he has authored influential books including Design Thinking Tools Handbook and Digital Futures in Human-Computer Interaction..

• Visiting Professor, Smart Cities & AI, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh (2024)
• Visiting Professor, Smart Cities, AI & ML, Parsons School of Design, New York (2023)
• Co-Director, Smart Cities Convergence Master’s Program (Politecnico di Milano × Tsinghua University), 2020–2022
• Visiting Professor / Senior Consultant, Informatics Research Centre, Henley Business School, University of Reading (2015–Present)
• Visiting Faculty / Lecturer, Academy of Art & Design, Tsinghua University (2010–2015)
  • Co-founded the Design Beijing Lab with Prof. Zhiyong Fu 
• Instructor & Thesis Advisor, MFA Design & Technology, Parsons School of Design (1995–2012)
• Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Design (Fall 1998)
• Competition Coordinator & Advisor, Harvard Graduate School of Design (Fall 1991)
   

• Developer & Lecturer of advanced courses on Smart Cities, AI, Machine Learning, and Urban Operating Systems
• Contributor to global discourse on autopoietic city systems, convergence frameworks, and City OS architecture
   

• Advisor, China National Smart City Joint Lab 
• Advisor, Asia Dialogue Society, Singapore
• Advisor, Royal Elm Park Mixed-Use Development, United Kingdom
   

• Smart city operating systems architecture
• AI-enabled urban environments & digital twins
• Human–technology–environment convergence 
• Autopoietic cities, collective intelligence, and City DNA
   

• Associate Professor, Information Art & Design, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University
• Vice-Director, Research Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Education of China
• Member, Tsinghua University Innovation & Entrepreneurship Teaching Committee
• Director, Tsinghua Service Design Institute
• Secretary-General, China Information & Interaction Design Committee (IIDC), since 2014
• Recipient, National Award for New Century Excellent Talents (2006)

• Visiting Professor, Kansei Evaluation Research Project, Tsukuba University, Japan (1998)
• Visiting Scholar, School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University, USA (2008–2009)
   

• Keynote Speaker & Academic Committee Member, major international conferences including HCII, Chinese CHI, IAC, IASDR, and JFS
• Delivered multiple invited talks in 2024, including HCII, UNESCO-PMU, IAC, China Government Scholarship Summer School, and the Tsinghua International Conference on Arts Education
• Organizer & Chair, International Conference on Design Futures (ICDF, 2020–2022)
• Founder, Global Design Futures Network (GDFN)
• Initiated international academic MoUs with Carnegie Mellon University and Politecnico di Milano
• President, World Association of Chinese HCI Scholars
• Contributor, UNESCO Futures Literacy Lab
• Editorial Advisory Board Member, Packaging Engineering
  

• Future-oriented design & futures literacy
• Embodied interaction & human–AI co-creation
• Experience design for smart mobility & digital society