"Shilpa Jena is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar, associated with the Accessory Design discipline. She has professional and academic experience in architecture, design education, spatial and interior design, visual merchandising, accessory design, and design research. Her academic practice focuses on creative design thinking, material exploration, spatial experience, sustainability, emerging technologies, and industry-oriented learning.

She has contributed significantly to the development and delivery of the Fashion Interior curriculum. Her work integrates spatial design, materiality, visual experience, sustainability, and emerging technologies into design education.

Her research interests focus on built character, culture, craft communities, materiality, spatial identity, and design, particularly traditional weavers clusters of Odisha. She is also engaged in research and academic initiatives related to visual merchandising, retail interiors, exhibition and immersive experience design, sustainable materials, and craft-based spatial practices.

In addition to teaching and research, she coordinates the International and Domestic Linkages (IDL) Office at NIFT Bhubaneswar, supporting academic collaborations, student exchange programmes, institutional partnerships, scholarships, and mobility initiatives. She actively contributes to student mentoring, workshops, outreach programmes, curriculum development, and interdisciplinary academic collaborations."