Michael Schenberg

I am a mature age student with a strong interest in design and design history. Having a passion for design I returned to university to complete my Industrial Design degree following the success of several medical and surgical devices I designed and developed.

I enjoy the process of identifying a design problem and the challenges of developing an effective solution. I particularly enjoy researching design questions, learning from how other designers have found answers to parallel problems and then delving into formulating creative and user centred design solutions.

While at university I developed many skills including a long-standing wish to learn to prototype using 3D printing. I have accomplished the skills for CAD modelling and confidently print prototypes by fine filament fabrication with my own 3D printer as well as utilize more advanced machines that I have been exposed to during my Industrial Design studies.

Having lived and worked in various countries, I have observed how different cultures find varying solutions to common design and day to day issues. These experiences have provided me a greater appreciation of diversity of thinking and problem solving, which add greater scope to my design thinking.

Outside of work and study I like to keep fit. I am a keen swimmer and enjoy longer distance open water swims. I am fond of breadmaking and cooking, and both, like design, are wonderful expressions of creation, sharing and joy.

The Cultro Knife Holder

The Flexible PreCurved Airway

Hinoki Portable Shower Stool

The Lamel Side Table

UN VR Headset Stand

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.