Nishit Kamath’s passion for design is a hero’s journey from Mumbai to Los Angeles. Overcoming societal challenges, it all began with a young boy’s drawing of an automobile. Born in India, local education revolved around traditional careers in engineering, medicine, commerce and business. Art and design was considered a hobby rather not a serious career option. However, a born tinkerer/problem solver by nature and passionate about automobiles, Nishit drew his first car at the age of five. From that day on, the automobile made its way through his childhood to his professional life today. When his family moved to Bangkok, his father working for General Motors, Nishit enrolled in Raffles College of Design and Commerce.
He was introduced to product design. With his parents’ support, against society norms at that time, and with advice from the counselors, Nishit explored the craft of design. “The experience contributed towards making me the all-round designer I am today.” In 2012, Nishit pursued a Masters in Transportation Systems and Design at the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles. Nishit was one of the first students chosen for the pilot version of the newly founded program. The program, is one out of two programs in the world offering course training in urban planning, studying human behavior, identifying future directions in technology, assessing access and usability, customer experience and strategy, and vehicle packaging.
Nishit was the first official graduate of the program. Nishit’s post-graduate career includes success in development at The CARLAB working on vehicle packaging projects, automotive clinics, and advanced consultancy for automotive icons like Subaru, Acura, Honda, Mahindra, Toyota, Karma Automotive, and Nissan. At Flyspan Systems, he designed collateral standards and developed conceptual drone systems for infrastructure inspection, law enforcement and search and rescue. Shortly after being made the chief design officer, Nishit developed drone analytics and fleet management from a design point of view. His cutting edge and groundbreaking approach to the design of transportation systems was recognized by Rivian Automotive, an electric car stealth startup based in Michigan, where he was brought on as their design researcher for their customer experience and strategy and subsequently their mobility operations teams.
Nishit is the co-founder and lead designer of PrintWithin, a 24/7 –3D printing service and design consultancy offering high quality prints at affordable prices. Nishit’s journey into the world of 3D printing is “game changing”. Having the on-demand ability to quickly produce an idea into 3D form is something Nishit could never have dreamed of as a five-year-old boy that drew his first car – or was that the dream all along? “To me, design is about solving problems, addressing challenges that we face. As a designer, I feel a sense of purpose when I solve problems and ease pain, inconveniences, discomfort of a person or of the matters. Their happiness, sense of comfort, achievement and fulfillment cause me to be happy, fulfilled and feeling like I contributed towards the betterment of society.”
From Mumbai to America, Nishit Kamath’s journey, while magical, has only begun. Through design, strategy and 3D printing, he plans to deepen his passion into developing autonomous, connected mobility systems to make traveling seamless, intuitive and easy to access, rendering memories that commuters are sure to keep. “Its very much like playing a strategy game, except that it’s inside my head, and it’s magical to see how it all works together, for the betterment of society.” Through design, strategy and 3D printing, he plans to deepen his passion into developing autonomous, connected mobility systems to make traveling seamless, intuitive and easy to access, rendering memories that commuters are sure to keep. “Its very much like playing a strategy game, except that it’s inside my head, and it’s magical to see how it all works together, for the betterment of society.”