In a move to drive the highest level of experimentation and research, the College for Creative Studies has appointed a new academic chair that will encourage students to push boundaries and break new ground in the burgeoning field of advanced UX design.

Detroit, Michigan -- The College for Creative Studies (CCS) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. Predrag K. Nikolic, internationally acclaimed experimental designer, interactive media artist and digital media expert, as the Chair of graduate User Experience (UX) Design.

“Using my international work experience in the interactive media industry and academia, and prolific research in the field of artificial intelligence creativity, I look forward to evolving the User Experience Design program into a nationally and internationally recognized program in fruitful symbiosis with existing and emerging industries,” said Nikolic.

Before joining CCS, Nikolic has held various high-level roles in academia, advertising, design and research. Most recently, he was a professor at the University of the Bahamas, and before that ShanghaiTech University and Shantou University. He was also the Dean of Faculty of Digital Production at Educons University, and adjunct professor at Bergen Academy of Art and Design, China Academy of Art and Malaysia Multimedia University. Additionally, he is the founder of AI.R Lab, served as principal investigator at ShanghaiTech University, senior research fellow at IDM Lab and researcher at Aalto University Finland.

In addition to Nikolic’s experience working in higher education, he also has a rich background in advertising and as an exhibiting artist and researcher. His current work and research focus on mixed experiential reality, singularity, human-AI interaction, artificial intelligence emancipation, intelligent interfaces, robot creativity, AI aesthetics and design for behavioral changes. He mixes immersive virtual worlds, artificial intelligence and responsive environments to engage an audience in new types of interactive experiences and media perceptions, exemplified in his ongoing research project Syntropic Counterpoints.

Nikolic has exhibited and presented his works at ARS ELECTRONICA, International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA), ACM SIGGRAPH, Technarte, EmTech MIT Review, Science Centre Singapore, Museum of Applied Art and many more.

During his 20-year career in the advertising industry, he worked for creative agencies such as Grey Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather and Ogilvy Group as Director of Digital and Digital Creative Director. In his roles, he conceptualized and designed digital media presences for clients such as Telenor, IBM, Nestlé, H&M, Mars, Coca-Cola, Credit Agricole Bank, Yahoo, Czech Airlines and many others.

"With his prolific research output and publications, and his extensive international experience across Europe, Malaysia, China and most recently the Bahamas, Dr. Nikolic brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise from across the field of UX design, as well as new and emerging technology. We are very excited to have him join the team at CCS as a scholar, teacher and creative practitioner.” said Dr. Ian Lambert, dean of graduate studies and research at CCS.

Nikolic holds an undergraduate degree in Art History from University of Belgrade, Master of Fine Arts in Digital Arts, and a Ph.D. in Digital Media from University of Arts in Belgrade as well as a Master of Business Administration from Cardiff Metropolitan University.

“Detroit's recent development and initiatives indicate its rising into the New World Capital of Innovation. In this creative renaissance, CCS has a crucial role in cultivating new generations of creative minds knowledgeable about state-of-the-art technologies with an uncompromisingly human-centered focus when it comes to product and service design,” said Nikolic. “CCS has enormous capacity to keep pace with emerging trends and novelties, and a graduate program in UX Design is part of these tendencies. Besides having the vast potential to attract students and companies, I am confident the program will catalyze new creative enterprises in Detroit and contribute to the community in an immense way.”