The Centre of Design Innovation is comprised of experienced researchers grounded by practice. Our team are passionate about working with end-users, businesses and government to transform innovative ideas into reality.

Here you’ll learn about different team members, their roles and how to make contact to start a collaboration or partnership together.

Leadership team

Academic staff

Name 
 Position 
 Research Area 
 Email 
Associate Professor Carolyn Barnes Associate Professor, Communication Design Service Design, Public Good Design, Strategic & Transformative Design: Design Thinking cbarnes@swinburne.edu.au
Professor Jane Burry  
 Dean, School of Design  
 Mathematics and computing in contemporary architecture  
 jburry@swinburne.edu.au  
Professor Mark Burry AO 
 Director, Smart Cities Institute  
 Complex Architecture and Convergent Design  
 mburry@swinburne.edu.au  
Dr Dylan Davis Lecturer, Communication Design Interaction Design, Digital Storytelling ddavis@swinburne.edu.au
Professor Boris Eisenbart  
 Course Director – Product Design Engineering  
 Design process and methods, Industry 4.0  
 beisenbart@swinburne.edu.au  
Associate Professor Daniel Huppatz Associate Professor, Architectural and Industrial Design Design History, Philosophy, and Theory dhuppatz@swinburne.edu.au
Professor Blair Kuys Associate Dean Research, School of Design and Architecture Product Design, Product Diversity, Productivity Design bkuys@swinburne.edu.au
Associate Professor Abdullah Al Mahmud  
 Deputy Academic Director: Research Training  
 Design research, human-computer interaction  
 aalmahmud@swinburne.edu.au  
Professor Rachael McDonald  
 Department Chair, Health & Medical Sciences  
 Health, disability and assistive technology  
 rachaelmcdonald@swinburne.edu.au
Dr Diego Muñoz  Research Fellow Motivational modelling, ageing research, human-computer interaction dmunoz@swinburne.edu.au
Dr Belinda Paulovich Lecturer, Communication and participatory co-design Design for Health and Wellbeing, Participatory and Codesign, Information Design bpaulovich@swinburne.edu.au
Associate Professor Gianni Renda  
 Deputy Chair, Department of Architectural and Industrial Design  
 Design for health, inclusive design  
 grenda@swinburne.edu.au  
Professor Emeritus Leon Sterling Professor Emeritus Software Engineering, Agent-based systems, Human Computer Interactions lsterling@swinburne.edu.au
Professor Mark Taylor  
 Professor of Architecture  
 Design innovation, architecture  
 marktaylor@swinburne.edu.au  
Professor Christine Thong  
 Academic Director, Design Factory Melbourne Industrial design, Design innovation   cthong@swinburne.edu.au 
Professor Nicki Wragg Associate Dean Education, School of Design and Architecture Strategic & Transformative Design, Design Research Education nwragg@swinburne.edu.au

Advisory board

Tina Hogarth-Clarke 

Managing Director, Into Aged Care 
Advisor to Future Self Living Lab 

Sarah Bridges 

Principal Design Integrator, AURECON
Advisor to Urban Design Architecture 

Jeremy Yuille  

Principal, Meld Studios 
Advisor to Service Design and Organisational Design 

Professor Voytek Gutowski 

CSIRO Fellow 
Advisor of Scientific Content and Advanced Manufacturing 

Carla Zampaglione

Director, Sento Solutions
Advisor to Human Centred Product Design

Adjunct fellows

Name
 Position
 Research Area
Dr Agustin Chevez Bernaldo De Quiros 
 Senior Researcher. HASSELL. Melbourne, Australia 
 Workplace architecture
Professor Lisa Given Adjunct Professor  
Professor Steffen Walz
 Professor of Design/Art in the School of Design and Art at Curtin University
 Games and experimental design
Associate Professor Ian Woodcock Adjunct Associate Professor  

PhD candidates in design and other disciplines

Family name First given name Thesis title Principal coordinating supervisor
Brewer
 Scott
 The benefits and opportunity of digital technology on the fields of spatial and interior design in spaces built for public use
 Professor Jeni Paay
Chen
 Canhui
 Affordable sophistication: Investigating reusing, repurposing and upcycling in architecture through exploiting computational design and digital fabrication.
 Professor Mark Burry AO
Chia
 Nicholas
 University-Industry collaboration: A case study on improving new product development with small and medium enterprises.
 Professor Blair Kuys
Choy
 Sonny
 Expanding industrial design’s contribution to Hong Kong manufacturers: why the ‘Balanced Scorecard for industrial design management’ is pragmatic.
 Professor Blair Kuys
Iskandar
 Sonya
 Beyond Vision: Spatial Design for People with Visual Impairments
 Professor Mark Taylor
Maluleem
 Kassameerat
 Investigating the design elements of typicality and novelty to enhance the appeal of souvenirs.
 Professor Blair Kuys
Melles
 Fanni
 Making future cities smart by supporting future city designers in smart design. 
 Professor Jeni Paay
Mesa
 David
 Contributions of Product Design to Scientific Research: Taking early-stage technologies to market. A case study with graphene supercapacitors. 
 A/Professor Christine Thong
Perera
 Ethmadalage
 Eco-centric urban design approach for peri-urban water resource planning: A common framework of regenerative design. Special reference to; traditional cascade system in Sri Lanka
 A/Professor Gavin Melles
Rutten
 Julian
 Making Places for Plants through Computational Observation, Analysis and Simulation
 Professor Mark Burry AO
Trevena
 Lee
 Enhancing training practices in the disability sector using augmented reality technology
 Professor Jeni Paay
Wang
 Jing
 Thinking and Doing Design: Integrating novel innovation approaches with established design practices
 Dr Charles Ranscombe
Wangzom
 Dorji
 Built environment and perception of traffic safety for children’s active school travel. 
 Professor Marcus White
Zhang
 Zhi
 E-Government Services for the Elderly
 Professor Jeni Paay

Explore more from our centre

Collaborate with the Centre for Design Innovation

We always welcome new partners. If you are interested in transforming ideas into commercially competitive outcomes, need the support of our research or have any other queries, contact us on +61 3 9214 6072 or email cdiadmin@swinburne.edu.au.

Contact us