Mayank Kaushal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fashion & Lifestyle Accessories at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Raebareli. He specialises in Colour, Material and Finish (CMF), system design thinking, form generation, product innovation, user research, and fashion and trend forecasting. He holds an M.Des. in Accessory Design from the National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar, and a B.Des. in Fashion & Lifestyle Accessories from NIFT Raebareli. Before joining academia in 2019, he worked in industry for eight years with organisations including Samsung Design Delhi, Dongkuk Steel India and Havells. NIFT NIFT He is currently pursuing doctoral research at the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, where his work focuses on the traditional attar (natural perfume) industry of Kannauj. Beyond teaching and research, he engages actively with Indian craft traditions such as Aipan, Bidriware, and Channapatna, mentors design students across projects and dissertations, and enjoys experimenting with materials, finishes, and emerging tools including AI in design practice.