On my recent trip to California I visited the studio of the eponymous furniture designer Don Chadwick, renowned for his Aeron chair design and other landmark works. His beautiful studio was nestled in the hills of LA, where he works with Daniel Stromborg in the quiet of the countryside. Don was fascinated by my appointment at RISD and expressed the importance of educating designers in the lost art of knowing how to work with your hands. In addition he stressed the need to know materials and their inherent properties as well — not only to obey their limitations, but to also stretch and challenge what the materials can achieve as a designed object. And he added that they should be skilled at using the computer at the same time. Finding such people is so rare according to Don and many other authorities I’ve spoken with … I believe the challenge for the future is quite clear.