Designer, Photographer, Teacher and now Father.

George is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He teaches graduate and under graduate design classes in Designed Objects, as part of the AIADO department (Architecture, Interior Architecture and Designed Objects).

His independent practice, Greater Good Studio, is a innovation consultancy that uses design methods to solve social problems.

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George Kyaw Soe Maung Aye was born in Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar) in 1976.

In 1979, his parents moved him and his siblings to England where grew up and got his education. After graduating with a B.Eng (Hons) in Engineering Design Visualisation, he worked as a designer in London. 

In 2001 he moved to Chicago in to work as a designer consultant for IDEO, the global design consultancy.

In 2005 he founded Hubwear, a small t-shirt business with his wife Sara Cantor Aye, for the modern urban traveller.

In 2008 he became the Lead Designer for the Chicago Transit Authority.

In 2009 he became the Creative Director of Industrial Design for IA Collaborative.

And most recently, in 2010, he joined the full-time faculty of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is now a tenure track Assistant Professor.

On Jan 28th, 2011 he became a father to his daughter Sophie Lwin, born 8lb 4oz.

For a complete picture of his professional career including roles, responsiblities and patents, please visit his LinkedIn profile here. 

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On a personal note, back in 2007, he proposed to his then girlfriend at a fake art show opening called, ‘My Early Muir Owl’ (an anagram of “Will You Marry Me?”). The video made to document the proposal has been viewed over 400,000 times and was featured in Core77, the Metro (a UK newspaper), and best of all, the Reader’s Digest.