School of Design

Rachael Cassar is a leading figure in sustainable fashion, renowned for her innovative upcycling practices and dedication to environmental consciousness. With two decades of experience in the international sustainable fashion industry, Rachael's work as a designer, academic, and director of her eponymous label and practice, RACHAEL CASSAR, has garnered widespread acclaim.

Her research, rooted in her recent doctoral studies, is deeply embedded in the international sustainable design landscape, shaping the future of fashion through innovative approaches to material reuse and circular design thinking. With a commitment to interdisciplinary thinking and a proven track record of excellence, Rachael Cassar continues to push boundaries, inspire change, and redefine the possibilities of sustainable fashion.

Rachael’s practice cultivates a sensitivity towards dimensions of materials typically overlooked and devalued, which contributes valuable new knowledge about material encounters that can encourage sustainable design relationships, delivering an approach for reuse and designing with waste, worn materials and archival fashion.

Dr Alyssa Choat is a practice-led researcher whose work explores the intersections of fashion, materiality, and embodied performance. Her research is grounded in new materialist and posthumanist theory, with a focus on how the dressed body functions as a dynamic site of movement, affect, and relational encounter. Drawing from methodologies in performance studies and creative practice research, Choat investigates fashion as an assemblage of body, material, and spatial interaction.

Her doctoral research introduced a methodological framework that positioned performance not only as a mode of expression but as a means of inquiry within fashion practice. This framework has shaped an evolving research trajectory that engages critically with digital fashion technologies—including photogrammetry, volumetric imaging, and immersive documentation. Rather than idealising the digital body, Choat’s work foregrounds imperfection, resistance, and the material trace, offering new approaches to inclusivity, representation, and digital embodiment in fashion.

Choat’s current research projects extend across interdisciplinary collaborations with institutions focused on sustainability, social justice, and digital design. Through creative outputs, scholarly writing, and experimental digital methodologies, she contributes to rethinking the possibilities of fashion research in a posthuman, post-pandemic context—where bodily presence, technological mediation, and ethical design converge.

Cherine Fahd is one of Australia’s leading photographic artists. For nearly three decades, she has exhibited, written, and curated works in photography and image-based practices. Her projects often involve members of the public, her family, and friends, exploring how the camera brings people together. Her practice examines the everyday uses of photography in the family album, on social media, and in applied contexts that promote visibility and social inclusion.

Her scholarly research extends to the role of photography in grief and mourning, alongside its social and cultural functions. She is widely published, with her essays and reviews appearing in Sydney Review of Books, The Conversation, Sydney Morning Herald Spectrum, ABC Arts, and in leading international journals including Photography and Culture, photographies, and Philosophy of Photography.

Her photographic methodology for working with communities is highly sought after. She has presented on photography for research impact at the University of Sydney and worked as a research fellow with the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre on multiple projects for the Hunt-Symes Sexuality Institute. She has contributed to the cross-institutional project Cloak: Queer Science, Fashion and Photography, which was shortlisted for the 2024 Eureka Science Prize, and continues to work with Living Lab Northern Rivers on projects with flood-affected communities. She is also a postgraduate student in the Master of Psychotherapy and Counselling at the University of Western Sydney, where she is being trained in practice-based methods of relational person-centered practice that she extends to her photographic work with communities.

Fahd holds a PhD from Monash University and is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Design and Society at the University of Technology Sydney. She was the inaugural co-chair of the Powerhouse Photography Artist Advisory Group and has two forthcoming books: Photographing for the Practices series with Duke University Press, and the Powerhouse Photography book—the first major publication on contemporary Australian photography from the Powerhouse collection. Her keynote lecture, Photography, Suicide and the Limits of Knowing, was presented at the Deathscapes conference for the International Association of Photography and Theory. She is also co-editing an upcoming special issue of Photographies (Taylor & Francis) on Photography and Memory in the Age of AI.

Dr Jacqueline Gothe is a design researcher in visual communication design, information design and practices of critical visualisation. Her research approach foregrounds research through design as a knowledge creating paradigm. She has widely researched the application of communication and design principles in land management investigating transdisciplinary approaches in environmental projects. 

Jacqueline’s work as a visual communication designer and researcher in contemporary Australia acknowledges that a visual dialogue with land is a project of recognition and revisioning – the recognition of the lived experiences, culture and knowledge of generations of Aboriginal people and the revisioning of landscapes through a collective act of will. Practices of collaboration and co-creation are central to this investigation of the materialisation of transcultural and transdisciplinary knowledges to inform change in land management. For the past decade she has worked in partnership with Firesticks Alliance, an Indigenous-led network that mentors, shares and supports the revival of cultural burning practices in natural resource and fire management contexts. Her communication and information design contribution to Firesticks has been recognised by the International Institute of Information Design Awards (IIID).

Professor Brad Haylock is the Head of the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney. He is a designer, publisher, and academic whose work spans graphic design, publishing, design studies, and material culture studies. He has led numerous government- and industry-funded research projects. In his current role, he leads the School’s academic strategy and operations, overseeing programs including Design Studies, Fashion and Textiles, Product Design, and Visual Communication, supporting a community of approximately 1,200 students and 40 continuing academic staff.

Brad has extensive experience in academic leadership, curriculum development, and research training. Prior to joining UTS, he was Associate Dean (Communication Design) at RMIT University, where his leadership delivered major program renewals, including the introduction of new major and minor pathways.

Earlier in his career, Brad held leadership roles at RMIT and Monash University across Higher Degrees by Research, Honours, and undergraduate programs. He has played a significant role in shaping practice‑based research training ecologies, including as a past chair of RMIT’s Practice Research Symposium in Australia. He is an experienced PhD supervisor across traditional and practice-based research paradigms.

His edited books include Art Writing in Crisis (Sternberg Press, 2021, with Megan Patty), One and many mirrors: perspectives on graphic design education (Occasional Papers, 2020, with Luke Wood), and Distributed (Open Editions, 2018, with David Blamey), alongside numerous critically recognised titles published through his imprint Surpllus. His curatorial projects include exhibitions and programs developed with institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria and RMIT Design Hub Gallery, including Babel Bookcase (Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, 2023), Metahaven: Field Report (Design Hub Gallery, 2020, with Megan Patty), and Experimental Jetset: Superstructure (Design Hub Gallery, 2018, with Fleur Watson, Kate Rhodes, and Megan Patty).

Dr Lisa Lake is the Director of the Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Fashion + Textiles, a partnership between UTS and TAFE NSW, which has a mission to aid the sustainable transition of the Australian fashion industry through education, research and advocacy.

Lisa is responsible for growing the Centre's reach through short courses, research projects, and engagement opportunities, and maintains the partnership between two founding institutions - UTS and TAFE NSW. She provides oversight to the work of the Fashion Educator Working Group, and works closely with the Research Director to plan future research outputs via industry research projects and HDR students. Lisa is also responsible for industry engagement and outreach, and the Centre currently has projects with industry partners including: The Volte, M.J. Bale, and High Tea with Mrs Woo. The Centre is a supporting member of Seamless, the Australian clothing product stewardship scheme, where Lisa sits on a working group. Lisa is an invited judge for the Good Design Awards and the eBay Circular Fashion Fund, and sits on the NSW Parliament Sustainable Fashion Reference Group.

A regular panelist at Australian fashion industry events, Lisa has been an invited speaker in the United States and Europe, and she writes and contributes to academic and industry publications. Lisa is a pioneer in the Australian sustainable fashion movement having authored Sustainability with Style in 2012, and co-founded Clean Cut, an organisation that brought the first sustainable fashion show to Sydney Fashion Week in 2014. Her PhD at the University of Sydney examined how the Australian fashion industry can transition toward sustainability through a systems change lens, with particular emphasis on consumer and designer experience, lends itself to the industry-focused education and research activities of the Centre.

In addition to her expertise on sustainable fashion, Lisa also helped develop the sustainability strategy for the University of Sydney, and previously led the marketing team at the Green Building Council of Australia.

Senior fashion academic, researcher, and academic leader specialising in sustainable fashion, ethical fashion pedagogy, curriculum innovation, and higher education leadership. 

Experienced in designing industry-engaged curricula, leading academic teams, mentoring staff, and developing strategic partnerships across the fashion and creative industries. 

Founding leader of Fashion Revolution Australia & New Zealand, championing sustainability advocacy and student leadership across the higher education sector. 

PhD candidate researching ethical fashion pedagogy with a strong record of inclusive teaching, program development, and fostering transformative learning experiences that connect research, industry, and practice.

I’m a design academic with a background in the humanities whose primary area of expertise and instinct for interest is in the strategic and creative dimensions of communication. My research focus for the next 5-10 years is socio-technological change for sustainable transitions in the Australian grazing industry, particularly grazing/ meat and livestock. How such change is envisioned and the complexities of its implementation is crucial to understanding whether such change is necessary, achievable, and whether it meets the needs of the farming community. I grew up on a farm, worked as a part-time farm labourer in the family business as soon as my feet could reach the peddles of a bike, and my family and oldest friends are farmers. I want what's best for the people in those communities driving genuine sustainable improvements. As an academic I see my role as a connector between university research capabiltiies and the knowledge and needs that exist in the livestock sector. 

My core capabilities:

- Design and implementation of qualitative research focused on current and future human-technology interactions

- Analysing the way narrative and metaphor structure human action and values

- Creating and communicating future scenarios focused on end-users in context

- Expertise managing multi and cross disciplinary design projects from conception to completion

- Working across humanities, social sciences and natural sciences

My academic work has appeared in the Journal of Cleaner Production, Futures Journal, Techne: Research in Philosophy and Technology, People and Nature Journal, Pedagogy Culture and Society, The International Journal of Food Design, The Design Journal, Design and Culture, Human Ecology Review, and Environmental Humanities.

I am a former research fellow at the University of Cambridge. I previously been invited to deliver a guest lecture within the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. I am an ARC assessor and have contributed to the assessment of ARC Future Fellowship, Industrial Transformation Training Centre and DECRA applications.

Associate Professor Stefan Lie is a product designer and design academic working at the intersection of product interaction, material ecologies and sustainable design. His research emphasises the relationship between humans and materials based on an object’s form, surface and texture, and its resulting contribution to cultures of overconsumption and waste. He has a particular interest in the use of next-generation bio-derived polymers as an alternative to petrochemicals.

At UTS, Stefan is the co-director of the Material Ecologies Design Lab, which brings together studies in material cultures, thinking and futures to explore new design processes that move away from non-renewable towards regenerative systems. He is also a member of Integrated Product Design Research (IPD-R), a collaborative research group based in the School of Design at UTS. 

As a researcher, Stefan works extensively with a range of industry partners to identify sustainability opportunities and re-imagine post-industrial waste as the source of new products and materials. Recent projects include a partnership with 4 Pines Brewing Company to create a series of eskies and cool bags made from recycled plastic, dehydrated brewers-spent grain and shredded plastic grain bags; an IPD-R partnership with Street Furniture to reduce the company’s resource footprint through the use of 3D-printed replacement parts; and the design of a compost aerator for Compost Revolution made from 100% recycled materials. In partnership with VisionSearch, Stefan produced a recyclable 3D-printed screen distancing device used in the assessment of vision impairments in research institutes and hospitals; this product is now produced on-demand, resulting in a reduction of plastic waste. Other research partners include, the CSIRO, IKEA, ARUP, the NSW Government, and the NSW Department of Corrective Services, among others.

A former furniture designer, Stefan is known for the iconic Ribs Bench, now part of the permanent collection at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. He is a former winner of the Good Design Award from the Shizuoka Chamber of Commerce in Japan for his Origami Slippers. Stefan is a member of the Australia Design Centre’s Future Work Think Tank and the principal judge for the Sustainability Design category of the Australian Design Centre’s annual Workshopped Design competition. He completed his PhD at UTS in 2020.

Teaching
Stefan teaches into the undergraduate, honours and postgraduate design courses at UTS. He challenges students to think both expansively and critically about the use of sustainable materials and consider their potential in everyday design practice. In doing so, he equips students with the skills and confidence to test their assumptions, make informed design decisions and take their place as future disruptors in the field.

Supervision 
Stefan supervises both master’s by research and PhD students. He has a particular interest in working with students who are passionate about challenging existing conventions in the product and industrial design space with the aim of moving towards a more sustainable future. He challenges students to think about product design sustainability beyond the narrow, systemically constrained context in which it operates today and to position their work as part of a broader paradigm shift that will define the industry of the future.

Stefan is currently the principal supervisor for three PhD students in the Material Ecologies Design Lab and a co-supervisor for two others within the School of Design.

Dr. Tingting Liu serves as a Chancellor's Research Fellow and senior lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She used to work as a Principal Investigator (PI) on the Australian Research Council (ARC) Project titled 'New Consumer Cultures in the Global South' (DP190100727) at Western Sydney University. Additionally, between 2019 and 2024, she worked as an Associate Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Jinan University in Guangzhou, China.

Recognized as a leading early-career researcher in contemporary Chinese digital media and platforms, the sociology of labor, and cross-cultural communication studies, Dr. Tingting Liu's research adeptly blends cultural studies, media studies, and business studies, underpinned by rigorous ethnographic and qualitative methodologies. Her significant contributions are reflected in a consistent output of influential journal articles. As of January 2025, Liu has authored 25 Q1 articles, all indexed in either the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) or Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) of Web of Science, underscoring her prominent academic influence.

In addition to her individual work, Dr. Liu is actively involved in multiple high-profile national-level funding projects. In addition to the ARC Discovery Project, she leads two projects funded by the National Social Science Fund of China, focusing on the Cultural Production of Live Streaming E-Commerce in the Context of Chinese Rural Revitalization, further demonstrating her substantial role in this research field. Liu’s participation as a Partner Investigator in the ‘Moving Data Moving People’ project, funded by The Independent Research Fund in Denmark (the Danish equivalent of ARC), adds to her impressive portfolio of research engagements.

Dr. Liu boasts a diverse and dynamic engagement with both Australian and international academia. She used to work as an ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University, Australia, and teach in the Media and Communications Department within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney.

Beyond her academic endeavours, Liu embodies a blend of cultural diversities. She is fluent in English, Mandarin (with a hint of Taiwanese accent), Cantonese (enriching her understanding of Hong Kong popular culture), and Hakka (a skill that opened doors to anthropology by allowing her to serve as an on-site ethnographic research assistant for Professor Anne-Christine Tremon at the Université de Lausanne back in 2012). Her global engagement with digital culture and anthropology frequently positions her as an esteemed guest for international talks, podcasts, and seminars.

Her academic journey is propelled by three central goals: firstly, the commitment to documenting the lively stories of real human beings; secondly, feeding her cats, and ensuring their care through her hard work and affectionately placing them in the Acknowledgements Section of her publications; and thirdly, the aspiration to create deep, soulful friendships through engaging co-authorship on compelling and thought-provoking topics.

Nice to meet you!

Jacqueline Lorber Kasunic is an Associate Professor in Design at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and co-lead of the Innovation and Design theme within the UTS Ageing Research Collaborative (UARC). She is recognised for her expertise in visualisation, as well as social and service design. Jacqueline’s work utilises experimental visualisation techniques to explore complex data landscapes across disability, aged care, the humanities, and the sciences. She collaborates to design inclusive, integrated, and engaging approaches to information systems and services.

Currently, Jacqueline’s research is focused on the development of new web-based interactive digital tools aimed at supporting decision-making for people in disability and ageing contexts. These tools empower individuals to maintain independence and make informed decisions about their lives, improving outcomes for both individuals and their caregivers.

One of Jacqueline’s most recent projects, ‘A Good Life,’ is an interactive tool co-developed with Professor Kate Sweetapple at UTS and Northcott, one of Australia's largest disability service providers. The project, awarded a Good Design Award in 2024, helps individuals with disabilities express their preferences and aspirations, fostering a higher quality of life.

Another notable project, ‘Writing Rights,’ created in collaboration with Humanities + Design at Stanford University, employs experimental visualisation techniques to track the development and evolution of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the foundation of modern human rights charters.

Jacqueline has also collaborated with marine biologists to co-lead a citizen science initiative with the UTS Climate Change Cluster and the University of Otago. This project produced a web tool that visualises the experiences of drifting marine microbes under climate change. Funded by the Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science, the tool advanced inclusive methodologies for online citizen scientists and was exhibited at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

Jacqueline is an accomplished scholar with publications in leading journals such as the Open Library of Humanities, Journal of Material Thinking, and Journal of Design Research. Her work also includes contributions to The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design and book chapters like “Historio-graphic: Knowledge Design Methods for Interpreting Documents” in Law’s Documents: Materiality, Authority, Aesthetics (Routledge).

Her forthcoming publications include:

• “Reimagining Disability Care: Supporting Human-Connectedness Through Design” in Design in Action: Reflections on Social and Inclusive Practices (Routledge)
• “Care, Disability, and Digital Interfaces” in All Hands on Deck Vol. 1: Working Through a Planetary Breakdown (Routledge)
• “Surfacing a Page: Experimental Visualisation and the Writing Process” in Archival Materialities in a Digital Age (Oxford University Press).