Mitya Kharshak became an honorary professor of Indian institute SAIT

Mitya Harshak, the Head of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL – St Petersburg, has been appointed an Honorary Professor at one of Central India’s leading technology institutes, the Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology (SAIT). He has also joined the institute’s Centre of Design Studies (CDS) International Advisory Board, where he will contribute to the development of educational programmes and academic strategy.

The Sri Aurobindo Institute of Technology is part of the multidisciplinary Sri Aurobindo educational group. Established in 2021, the Centre of Design Studies (CDS), which operates within the institute, gathers laboratories, workshops and research projects into an integrated creative ecosystem. Its educational model is based on studio practice, an experimental approach and close collaboration with contemporary industry — principles that closely align with HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL’s approach.

As an Honorary Professor, Mitya Harshak will participate in developing educational programmes and shaping the institute’s academic strategy, as well as deliver lectures, seminars and other educational initiatives for students and faculty members. As a member of the International Advisory Board of the Centre of Design Studies, he will also contribute to defining its future areas of development and strengthening international collaboration.

Cooperation with Indian colleagues is already in effect. In 2026, Mitya Harshak took part in an expert roundtable discussion organised by the Centre of Design Studies on the future of design education in the age of artificial intelligence and post-AI. With the heads of educational programmes and practising designers from different countries, participants discussed how the role of designers is changing amid rapid technological development and which skills are becoming essential for the next generation of professionals.

One of the key conclusions of the discussion was the need to prepare designers to work in a complex and quickly changing professional environment, where proficiency in contemporary technologies must be combined with broad systems thinking and the ability to adapt quickly to new challenges.