Digital Design Day At Qualcomm
Digital Design Day At Qualcomm
Welcome to SDDW Digital Design Day at the Qualcomm Campus! This event brings together San Diego’s vibrant design community, industry leaders, and academic partners for a dynamic day of exploration, networking, and growth. Whether you are looking to challenge traditional UX frameworks, discover how AI is revolutionizing product development, or gain practical mentorship to elevate your portfolio, our schedule is packed with insights for every stage of your design career. Explore the full lineup of talks, panels, and interactive sessions below to plan your day.
Session Details
Welcome Note
Time: 10:45 AM – 11:00 AM (15 minutes)
Location: Qualcomm Forward (Auditorium)
Details: A brief welcome to kick off the day, bringing together voices from Qualcomm, San Diego Design Week, and the UCSD Design Lab to set the tone for what’s ahead.
Design Lightning Presentations
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Qualcomm Forward (Auditorium)
Description: A rapid-fire showcase of design work from the community. Eight presenters each share a project, process, or idea in a short format — covering UX, brand, data visualization, and more.
Design Tabling
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Hall MP AB
Description: An open-format exhibition where Qualcomm’s digital design work sits alongside that of San Diego’s design community and academic partners. Guests are invited to browse at their own pace through tables showcasing real-world projects, tools, and insights from industry and emerging designers.
Lunch — Qualcomm Caterers
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Location: Courtyard
Supplies are limited
SD Design Trek Presents: Designing with AI
Time: 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM (45 minutes)
Location: Hall MP C
Description: Join design leaders and practitioners as they share how AI is being integrated into their organizations, how it’s changing product development, and what they look for when hiring designers. Topics include agentic AI, AI-assisted design workflows, and design-to-development handoff.
What Hiring Teams Are Looking For: Speed Mentoring
Time: 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM (75 minutes)
Location: Hall MP C
Details: Small rotating groups, follow-on to the Designing with AI panel. A fast-paced, small-group mentoring session with hiring managers and design leaders. Rotate through tables to get direct, candid feedback on your portfolio, career path, and how to stand out in today’s design job market.
Stop Designing Cars Like Phones [Talk]
Time: 12:50 PM – 1:50 PM
Location: Qualcomm Forward (Auditorium)
Speaker: Ben Kuhn
Description: Mobile UX patterns have become the default template for everything, but not every problem is a phone problem. This talk challenges designers to think critically about when familiar patterns fit and when they constrain us, using case studies from automotive, industrial, and systems design to explore what happens when we break the mold.
150 Mentoring Sessions Later [Talk]
Time: 1:55 PM – 2:55 PM
Location: Qualcomm Forward (Auditorium)
Speaker: Chris Gielow Description: After hundreds of hours mentoring emerging designers — from students to career-changers — certain questions, fears, and breakthrough moments start to repeat. Chris shares what he’s learned from the frontlines of design mentorship: the gaps between what design education promises and what hiring teams actually need, how to talk about your work, and the unglamorous habits that separate good portfolios from ones that get noticed.
Amplify Your Work: AI Infinity Loop [Talk]
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Location: Qualcomm Forward (Auditorium)
Speaker: Kevin Popovic
Description: AI tools amplify your thinking if you know how to use them. This session walks through a practical framework for integrating AI into your design process, from ideation through presentation. Popović demonstrates the “infinity loop” approach: using AI to create feedback cycles that sharpen, accelerate, and clarify your work — not to replace your thinking, but to deepen it.
Walking Tours of Qualcomm Campus [Outdoors]
Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (Hourly departures, up to 20 participants per tour)
Location: Outside AZ
Guides: Christine Ferrer & Guillermo Tomaszewski
Description: Hourly guided walking tours of the Qualcomm campus throughout the morning and early afternoon. Tours depart on the hour with up to 20 participants each.
Closing
Time: 4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Location: Courtyard / MP AB
Description: Wrap-up.
Parking Details
Free parking is available in the garage at 10145 Pacific Center Blvd. Signage will guide you along the walking paths to nearby Building AZ where the event is taking place(10155 Pacific Heights Blvd)
