Researcher

Dr Matthew William Harkness

My Expertise

3D Printing, bioplastics, plastic waste, recycling, making, maker practice, environmental sustainability, Circular Economy

Keywords

Biography

Matt is an early-career designer, researcher, and academic based in Sydney, Australia. He focuses on non-traditional research outcomes and specialises in object design from a Circular Economy, critical making, speculative, co-design, and more-than-human perspective. Matt’s research draws on these to interrogate the ethics of making, specifically, wasteful, exclusive, and exploitative DIY and maker practices. Through material experiments, his...view more

Matt is an early-career designer, researcher, and academic based in Sydney, Australia. He focuses on non-traditional research outcomes and specialises in object design from a Circular Economy, critical making, speculative, co-design, and more-than-human perspective. Matt’s research draws on these to interrogate the ethics of making, specifically, wasteful, exclusive, and exploitative DIY and maker practices. Through material experiments, his practice-based research includes waste plastic and bioplastic materials, ceramics, electronics, and repurposed objects. Matt has taught design courses at universities in Australia and Canada and exhibited design works nationally and internationally. He has shown work at the Australian Design Centre, the National Gallery of Victoria, Interiors Australia | Denfair, and Dubai Design Week.


My Qualifications

PhD - University of New South Wales

Master of Design - Emily Carr University of Art and Design

Bachelor of Fine Arts - The University of British Columbia Okanagan


My Awards

  • Finalist, Australia’s Next Top Designer - Interiors Australia | Denfair, 2022
  • Winner, HDR Research Output Award - UNSW, 2022
  • Winner, Sustainable Design Award - WORKSHOPPED21, 2021
  • Highly Commended, Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize - Northern Beaches Council, 2021
  • Winner, HDR Research Output Award - UNSW, 2021
  • Highly Commended, Reimagine Art Prize, Hornsby Shire Council, 2021
  • Winner, Dean’s List Award - UBCO, 2012
     

My Research Activities

Member of UNSW Art and Design - DesignforCE (https://www.instagram.com/design_for.ce/)

Member of The Circular Economy Research Network Asia Pacific (CERN APac) - 

Member of Québec Circular Economy Research Network (RRECQ) - https://rrecq.ca/en/the-network/about-us/

 

 


My Research Supervision


Supervision keywords


Areas of supervision

3D Printing; Bioplastics; Plastic Waste; Recycling; Maker Practice; Critical Making; Environmental Sustainability; Circular Economy; Industrial Design; Experimental Design; Co-Design; DIY; Design Research


My Teaching

Postgraduate Courses

  • Hybrid Crafting (ADAD9211)
  • Material Thinking (ADAD9212)
  • Research Foundations in Art & Design (ADAD9114)
  • Furniture & Lighting Design (SDES9747)
  • Critical Approaches to Design (SDES9210)
  • Participatory Design for Commercial Contexts (SDES9305)

 

Undergraduate Courses

  • Design Honours Studio Research Project (DDES4102)
  • Object 3 (DDES2121)
  • Design Collaboration Studio 3 (FADA3030)
  • Design Collaboration Studio 1 (FADA1010)
  • Design Studio 6 (DDES3101)
  • Design Studio 5 (DDES3100)
  • Design Studio 2 (DDES1101)
  • Art & Design for Environmental Challenges (ADAD2610)

 

View less