Annual Report 2026 | Santa Monica College

Forward

By Nicole Chan / Faculty lead

Let's start by acknowledging the year we have just had. One which has proved to be a chaotic challenge of highs and lows. Businesses and people alike started to feel the impact of the climate crisis, pandemic after-effects, and economic downturn.

For those of us in the design (and design-adjacent) industry, these conditions have driven tough decision making about who we want to be and change in focus of what we do. And in many ways, more of us are now catching up to where Driftime has been and is evolving from.  

Nowhere is their trailblazing more evident than being one of the studios to found the Design Declares movement encouraging designers, studios, et al. to take action on the climate and ecological crisis.

The team came into 2022 as a freshly certified B Corp and it is a pleasure to see them living up to the promise. Through working with impact-led businesses such as Only One, the work is having a positive impact on the planet, and moving to a 4 day working week is having a positive impact on the team and organisation.

As a board member (and friend) seeing Driftime growing to fulfil its potential is a joy. This impact report will help you understand why.


Nicole Chan
Faculty Lead, SMC
B.S.
Interaction Design program

Introduction

A Program with
Real-World Gravity

Founded in Fall 2016, the SMC Bachelor of Science, Interaction Design (IxD) program welcomed its tenth cohort this year, continuing a thoughtfully designed, cohort-based model that prioritizes connection, collaboration, and shared momentum. Students move through the core curriculum together, forming close-knit relationships while building skills for creative, technology-driven careers in product design, experience design, and creative technology. The full four-year program costs around $10K, keeping world-class design education within reach.

The program is intentionally in-person, with core studio courses held just two days a week. This structure creates space for deep collaboration, critique, and hands-on learning, while making the program accessible for commuting students. Based at SMC’s Center for Media and Design (CMD) campus in the heart of Silicon Beach, we are surrounded by creative and tech industries, grounding classroom learning in real-world context through industry partnerships, mentorship, and professional feedback, with the CMD campus conveniently located next to Bergamot Station on the Metro E Line.

What the numbers show

Tight-Knit, Connect, Commited

total current students

40

average class size

20

student falculty

13:1

Graduation Rate

98%

student of colors

1% Pacifc Islander
6% Black
8% Two or More
15% Asian
28% Hispanic
34% White
140

countries represented

Mexico
U.S.A.
Vietnam
Korea
Japan
Sweden
Finland
Canada
Philippines
13

total current students

140

Design Students

Meet the Designers

IxD · Meet the Designers
IxD Cohort 2026

Cohort members

    Alumni Spotlight

    from studio to worldstage

    alumni spotlight
    Audra Walker – Product Designer, Jona (Cohort 6)
    "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  
    Read More
    alumni spotlight
    Audra Walker – Product Designer, Jona (Cohort 6)
    "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  
    Read More
    alumni spotlight
    Audra Walker – Product Designer, Jona (Cohort 6)
    "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design." "Audra represented Jona at CES this year, bringing bold ideas and smart design to a global audience. She continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in product and interaction design."  
    Read More

    IxD Team

    Core Falculty

    The core faculty are trained at ArtCenter and Parsons, shaped by work at places like the Skirball, UNDP, NASA, Nokia, and Riot Games. They’re here to teach, challenge, and keep things moving forward, designing curriculum around shared studio time and a learning experience built on presence, dialogue and iteration.

    ixd core faculty
    ixd core faculty
    ixd core faculty

    Professors

    The core faculty are trained at ArtCenter and Parsons, shaped by work at places like the Skirball, UNDP, NASA, Nokia, and Riot Games. They’re here to teach, challenge, and keep things moving forward, designing curriculum around shared studio time and a learning experience built on presence, dialogue and iteration.

    Department Chair
    IxD Core Faculty
    Project Manager
    Academic Advisor
    Career Center
    Associate Dean, CMD

    Board

    The core faculty are trained at ArtCenter and Parsons, shaped by work at places like the Skirball, UNDP, NASA, Nokia, and Riot Games. They’re here to teach, challenge, and keep things moving forward, designing curriculum around shared studio time and a learning experience built on presence, dialogue and iteration.

    IxD Student Representative
    Product Designer at AdventureGenie
    Design Lead, Stealth AI Startup
    Executive Creative Director, LA Design Festival
    Alumn + JPMorgan Chase
    California State University Long Beach Professor
    Digital Karma
    Director, Product Design @ Snap Inc
    Sisu Co-Founder
    SMC IXD ‘18 Alum
    Creative Design Director
    Product Designer, Macher

    Connect