Steve Belletire is an Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. For 26 years he was a design consultant working with global clients such as 3M, Black & Decker and Gateway. With the Joss Design Group (Chicago) for 21 years, he helped companies bring successful products to commercial, consumer and industrial markets. His other design experiences include consumer electronics, plus exhibition and point-of-purchase design positions.
As a design educator, Steve's research has focused on issues of sustainable and environmentally appropriate design. Out of this research Steve became one of three co-creators of Okala. Steve also worked with an Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and EPA funded partnership (spearheaded by Philip White) to help bring Okala tools and knowledge to design professionals. As chair of the Education workgroup, Steve organized and conducted field research with corporate and consulting designers to learn about current levels of knowledge and practice pertaining to sustainable design. With this foundation, he and Okala co-creator Philip White developed new ecodesign workshops for design professionals. He is currently working with a variety of corporate and consulting design teams, helping them to integrate sustainable design methods with business strategies.