Mathew is currently the Co-Head of Design Research and resident futurist at Idea Futures (an Idea Couture company) where he is engaged in design research and strategic foresight practices for a variety of fortune 500 companies and private sector clients. Mathew is also frequently engaged in consulting projects with the technology transfer and commercialization offices at a number of Canadian universities in the areas of consumer foresight, pre-competitive intellectual property expansion, and early stage product, service, and business model applications.
Previously, Mathew conducted research for the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity, a not for profit think tank focused on design research and foresight methodologies. While at the Beal Institute, Mathew’s work and research focused on identifying and exploring design and business opportunities related to Dataspace (Internet of Things), as well as an in depth cultural analysis of gaming, new media, and Remix Culture. This work led him towards presenting scenarios and facilitating creative workshops at a variety of educational institutions including MIT and the University of Waterloo’s Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. Prior to his work at the Beal Institute, Mathew worked as a consultant for Axis Group International where he conducted research, scenario planning, and early stage product innovation for Motorola’s Global Telecom Solutions Sector and Whirlpool Canada Inc. in a diversity of areas ranging from counter terrorism and disaster mitigation, to RFID, mobile communications, and telematic applications; household and urban waste stream management.
Mathew has maintained his involvement in academia as both a guest lecturer and instructor at OCAD in the areas of interaction, compelling user experiences, play behavior and game design. Mathew also participated in the development of Canada’s first accredited master’s program on Strategic Foresight and Innovation now being offered at OCAD.