Jonak Das joined the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, in 2016, as a faculty member in the Exhibition Design discipline, and has been the Discipline Lead from June 2017 till February 2022. Since March 2022, he has been a faculty member in the Design for Retail Experience discipline (DRE), at the Bengaluru campus of NID. He guides projects in systems design, spatial perception, form, exhibit design, materials, and geometry. His area of research interest is the design of learning tools, spaces, and environments. Besides academic involvement, he is actively involved in professional design projects (on behalf of the institute) on pavilion & museum design, spatial design, product design, crafts, and pedagogic structure. He is also engaged in strategizing and creating frameworks for engagement with the Industry and the NID alumni body, in his capacity as the head of Industry relations & Alumni affairs.

Jonak graduated from NID in 1999 in Industrial Design, having specialized in Product Design. Since then, he has had over twenty three years of professional experience in the domain of spatial environment, products and experience design, as well as spatial branding and communication design – and has worked on over fifty projects in the domains of pavilion design, museums, exhibitions, interior (retail, office and hospitality), signage systems, environmental branding, event experiences and developing products and systems for these sectors. He has worked with various design firms based in Delhi – Design Habit, Kaaru, Itu Chaudhuri Design and lastly Lopez Design, where he was the Project Director, before joining NID. Craft is another sector that Jonak has been involved with in various capacities and roles. He has done craft product and system development projects for with NID, other academic institutes, NGOs, private firms, and had worked as a research associate and field researcher on the NID publication - The Handbook of Handicrafts. On the academic front, before joining NID, Jonak has taught as a visiting faculty at various institutes in India, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and in various departments. He loves to travel, exploring cultural narratives and is an avid reader.