Since Qin Li graduated from the Academy of Art University in 2004 with an MFA in Industrial Design, her career has quickly taken off. Qin works at Fuse Project, an elite firm that specializes in innovative product design and branding. As a Senior Designer at Fuse Project, Qin is the project lead for most of the design projects she is assigned to.

Qin is building a name for herself as a truly versatile designer, able to work on designs for everything from electronics to furniture to baby products. She has worked on projects for big corporate clients like HP, as well as international clients: Qin has designed a cell phone for a major cell phone provider in Korea, created furniture designs for companies based in Italy, and a wide array of other work. She has even completed a successful design for a high chair, which was shown at ICF, a furniture show in New York City.

Qin has received major industry recognition for her work. At the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, one of the biggest shows of its kind, Fuse Project was honored with an award for Best Innovation Design.

Qin feels that her studies at the Academy greatly contributed to her burgeoning career, and to this day she is proud that the Academy awarded her one of her first major distinctions in industrial design: a Ford scholarship for minority female designers.

“When you get an education at the Academy, you learn what it is like to really work!” she says. Among her instructors, she sees Jim Schultz as a major influence in her career development.

Automotive design studios envisioned what cars will look like 50 years from now for the most recent Los Angeles auto show “Robocar 2057.” If you saw Transformers this summer, you’ll see how much the designers were inspired by the blockbuster. If you’re in the LA area, the designs are on display until Nov. 25 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Academy industrial design school Director Tom Matano was one of the judges of the innovative competition.

To find out what the designers envisioned, read the full-length New York Times article.