Valentin Garcia
Beyond being a professor, I also see myself as an entrepreneur. I’ve founded a startup that allows me to follow my passions as I enhance my professional career. On a personal level, I am attracted and passionate to arts, objects, politics, whatever comes from mankind creation. Professionally, I’m grateful for the opportunities that IE University has given me to immerse myself in such a diverse and innovative institution. Through perseverance, I’ve been able to tie my interests and career together—and I hope to pass this mindset along to my students in the Bachelor in Design.
"Those who put passion into what they do and persevere, can succeed"
Unlimited passion for design
Valentin Garcia’s passion for design extends far beyond the classroom context. As an entrepreneur who founded his own fitness food startup, Valentin collaborates with a wide range of organizations on innovation projects, masterclasses and even TV programs, incorporating his personal interests throughout his professional trajectory.
Valentin began his journey as an Industrial Design student at IED in his native Spain before developing his design career with a research center in France, and as a creative director at an art gallery in Mexico. Later, he started teaching innovation to senior professionals at large organizations. In fact, he never considered becoming a university professor until the opportunity to teach at IE University came along. Seeing the university’s continued role as a global leader in higher education confirmed his desire to join the faculty. Valentin says that the freedom he has to incorporate the latest insights into his teaching, while learning from everyone in this diverse community, creates an environment that enriches everybody’s lives.
As a professor, Valentin ensures that his students can apply what they learn in the classroom to their personal and professional future. He says that the insights he shares in his Design and Agile Methodologies course can be applied as much to a design project and business management as it can to students’ personal lives. He gives them the tools they need to deal with everyday issues as they work to create and improve their future.
Valentin highlights that these applications of design are not limited to his role as a professor. He believes it’s important that they shine in his personal life and other professional endeavors. He’s the winner of numerous design awards and has carried out innovative projects for brands like Endesa and MAPFRE. Valentin’s work as a designer has been featured in numerous well-known publications, and he has collaborated with the governments of Mexico and Madrid on various innovative projects. He has collaborated with Domaine de Boisbuchet in the first three years and as Creative Director of the Mexican Design Gallery later. In the American country he began his consulting work, combined with his own design studio. As a designer, his work has been exhibited in prestigious media and press (The New York Times, AD Russia, Elle Shanghai, Designboom, etc.) Valentín sas been awarded Áccesit INJUVE for best young Spanish designer and Quórum award for best Mexican design. He has also participated in exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Mexico, Franz Mayer Museum and Madrid City Council.
Valentin loves cooking in his spare time, so much that he was a contestant on MasterChef, founded his own fitness food startup—EnVereda—and is taking a class on innovative cooking techniques at the Basque Culinary Center. Valentin says that he’s in love with anything people can make—whether that’s politics to create a brighter future, embroidering to pass the time in quarantine, or anything in between.
No matter their personal or professional interests, Valentin hopes his students find their passions and persevere to become great professionals and people. While knowledge, networking and soft skills are part of the formula for success, he says that coming from a humble background has taught him that passion and perseverance are also a must.
Check out in detail Valentin Garcia's academic and corporate experience
