Sanda S. Katila completed her B.F.A. at the University of Akron and worked as a professional designer for 13 years in the Cleveland area at advertising agencies, PR firms and corporate marketing firms. Sanda began teaching in 1993 focusing on traditional print design in the School of Visual Communication Design and has taught at all levels in the program. In 1998, Sanda served as the New Media Advisor on the Communications Team to create new courses in Web Design, Information Design and Presentation courses for Zayed University in Dubai and Abhu Dabi. Along with Dr. Paul Wang, she has developed a series of courses leading to the first Web Design and Programming Minor at Kent State, as well as co-authored a book, “Introduction to Web Design and Programming.” She also collaborated on several projects with David Robins, associate professor of Information Architecture and Knowledge Management (IAKM) in User Experience Design.
 
Sanda has been actively involved in administrative roles at the university. She completed the Institute for Excellence leadership program at Kent State in 2013. She served as the Internship Coordinator and Graduate Coordinator and was appointed to Associate Director in Fall 2013 and to Acting Director in July 2014. Her recent research focuses on healthcare communication, socially responsible design and graduate service projects with local organizations such as the Cleveland Sight Center and Neighborhood Family Practice.