His current research work is two faceted. One strand inquires for the participation of socially apt smart artifacts in socio-material interaction. The other explores the design of visual and tangible data for the achievement of unplanned collective goals such as urban commuting.

He regards social interaction mediated by smart (computational) artifacts as the ongoing adaptation of the activity flows of individuals, which are shaped by the enaction of both people and artifact’s programs of action. At a socio-technological level, this means that for the achievement of collective goals the design of social abilities of nonhuman agents is as relevant as people’s sociality.

Dr. Salamanca is currently Assistant Professor at the School of Art + Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, United States. He holds a doctoral degree from the IIT Institute of Design in Chicago, USA, a master degree in Design Direction from Domus Academy in Milan, Italy, and a BA in Industrial Design at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia.