Guwahati: Prof. Sudhakar Nadkarni, a pioneer of design education in India who helped establish the Department of Design at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, died in Mumbai on Monday. He was 88.

Nadkarni is credited with introducing and institutionalising design thinking in India. Over a career spanning more than six decades, he helped shape design education at leading institutions, promoting design as a systematic approach to addressing practical, social and developmental challenges rather than merely an applied art.

At IIT Guwahati, Nadkarni helped establish the Department of Design in 1997 and developed its first undergraduate design curriculum. His approach emphasised sustainability and the use of local resources, including regional bamboo and cane for designing furniture for schools and hospitals.

He also played a key role in establishing the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at IIT Bombay in 1969, where he helped launch India’s first postgraduate programmes in Product Design and Communication Design. He subsequently headed the centre for 18 years, contributing to the development of professional design education in the country.

Nadkarni later sought to bridge design and management education through a two-year MBA programme in Business Design at WeSchool in Mumbai. The programme aimed to connect design principles with corporate strategy and demonstrate their application in business decisions and organisational problem-solving.

Before joining IIT Bombay, he served as an associate professor at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, from 1966 to 1969, after returning from Europe.

Born in 1938, Nadkarni studied Graphic Design at Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai before moving to Germany in 1962 to pursue industrial product design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) in Ulm. His studies there influenced his belief that design should address human needs and contribute to social progress and national development.

His work helped shape generations of designers and expanded the role of design in India’s industrial, educational and social development.

Nadkarni’s last rites will be performed at 3.30 pm on Tuesday at the electric crematorium at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park in Mumbai.