MDes(RCA), MHKDA, IIDSA, FIDSHK

Product / System Design for Sustainability, Lifestyle Design Research, People-Centric Research/ Design

Industrial/ Product design, Sustainable Design, Strategic Design, Product Identity Design, Lifestyle & Trends Studies

Leong practiced industrial design and strategic design in Asia and Europe after his graduation from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Royal College of Art in the late 80s and early 90s respectively. He worked for and with companies such as JVC (Japan), Philips (Holland), HP (France and the USA), Alessi (Italy), Eckart+Barski (Germany), Huawei (China), Suzuki/ Haojue (China), Samsung Design (China), Seoul National University (Korea), Cuckoo (Korea), CMW (HK;Japan; Germany), on various pioneer projects of design, design research, consultancies and workshops.  

His distinguished designs within projects like ‘Philips-Alessi' kitchen range, ‘Vision of the Future’, ‘Things East-West’ and ‘e-light’, has won him numerous design awards and recognitions. These designs had been exhibited and publicized worldwide in Europe, the USA and Asia. In particular, the Philips-Alessi coffee maker is now a permanent collection at San Franciso Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in the USA, and the Groningen Museum in the Netherlands.

Leong joined the School of Design (SD), Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1995. He was the Associate programme Leader (2001-2003), the Discipline Leader and Deputy Leader of Industrial & Product Design BA(Hon)  (2003-2007) at the School.  He is now an Assistant Professor, leader of the Asian Lifestyle Design Research Lab in SD; the founder of LSDER-China (Lifestyle Design Research Network of China) and an Advisory Committee Member of the KDRI (Korean Design Research Institute). He was also be invited as the Strategic Advisor (2008-2010) of the Consumer-Experience Design Centre (CXD) of Huawei Device Co. Ltd. and the committee member of the 2nd and the 3rd International Service Innovation Design Conference held in Japan and Taiwan in 2011 and 2012.  

Leong has been active in the field of sustainable design since 2000. He has co-found the former 'Chinese Network on Design for Sustainability in China'; being invited as a technical advisor of the SCORE (Sustainable Consumption Research Exchange) Programme (2007-08), and then the chief external evaluator of the Learning Network of Sustainability (LeNs) (2008-2010).  He is now the coordinator of HK-PolyU DESIS-Lab; the founding member of DESIS-China; founding member of the Global Water Working Group (GWWG) and the China-Hong Kong Liaison Officer of the O2 Global-Net (international sustainable design network). 

Leong is also the chief editor, author and contributor of several national / international publications, such as “Design Vision: a Sustainable way of Living in China”; “China Green” (to be published); ‘Sustainable Product-Service System’ (UNEP publications); “System Innovation for Sustainability 1”; “China Design Now!”; “Better by Design”; "Navigating Design: A Voyage of Discovery"; "Scenari del Giovane Design”.