Ekaterina Khramkova

Founding director of Russia based product development and design research consultancy Lumiknows. 

2005-2006 - Master of Arts: Design & Branding Strategy (Brunel University, UK)
1995-1999 - PhD in Cultural Anthropology (Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow)
1990-1995 - MSc in Foreign Economics (Moscow State University named after Lomonosov)

• Head of Design and Innovation Department at the Moscow Industry-and-Finance Academy;
• Lecturer at the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow on Design Research, Foresight and Trends Forecasting;
• Columnist of Harvard Business Review - Russian on Design Thinking and Innovation.

In 2005, Ekaterina was awarded a Chevening scholarship from the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office of the British government to enable her to undertake the Masters course in Design and
Branding Strategy at Brunel University - one of the first programs in the world designed to bring
benefits of design thinking to the needs of business and society. For the first time in Russia, this
prestigious scholarship was given in the area of New Product Development.

Ekaterina’s previous position was Managing Director of SmirnovDesign, the Moscow based product design consultancy. She organized and conducted the first Russian design research project for Samsung Electronics, as well as first NPD workshops for businesses.

In 2007, Ekaterina organized and conducted the first in Russia international conference on Design Research "Design as a Strategic Business Tool for the 21st century" for one of the leading furniture events in Russia and the CIS "Moscow International Furniture Industry Congress". In May 2009, Ekaterina Khramkova has become a speaker of the first Russian TEDxMoscow conference.

On a regular basis, Ekaterina writes and publishes articles about design thinking for popular design media as well as Russian governmental organs. Featuring innovative approaches in New Product Development Ekaterina emphasizes the social, cultural, technological and business dimensions of design.