Dr. Miguel Toshihiko Hirata Kitahara is a Mexican scholar and researcher born in 1958. He serves as a full-time Professor-Researcher at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Azcapotzalco, where he has been a faculty member in the Department of Design Evaluation in Time within the Division of Sciences and Arts for Design since 1989.

His academic credentials reflect broad disciplinary plurality: he holds a Bachelor's degree in Graphic Communication Design from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (1981), a Master's degree in Visual Arts from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (1981), a Master's degree in Education from Queen's University in Canada (2016), and a Ph.D. in Transdisciplinary Studies of Culture and Communication from Íconos Institute (2025).

His research trajectory has evolved through several distinct theoretical phases. In an initial stage, he addressed visual culture and design historiography in Mexico through the study of popular typography, abstraction, and the history of graphic design. Subsequently, his theoretical focus reoriented toward design pedagogy, exploring topics such as visual literacy, multimedia learning, faculty competency development, and e-learning.

Currently, his work centers on the study of artisanal and design learning, approached from a comprehensive transdisciplinary perspective.