Ben

Product Design Engineering

My name is Ben Alsop and I am a final year Product Design Engineering student. Mechanically-minded, I enjoy bringing projects to life through hands-on prototyping and testing of designs. I am passionate about using my skillset to improve the lives of others and relish the opportunity to work in a team environment.

Across 2019 - 2020, I gained 17 months of industry experience with Downer Group while working on the High Capacity Metro Trains Project and the Warrnambool Line Upgrade. Working out of the CBD Offices, Pakenham depot and Newport Workshop, I gained exposure to a number of different roles and worked in multi-disciplinary teams.

Outside of my studies and work, I like to snowboard, play football and lead a busy social life. Personal projects I have undertaken include making a longboard, designing a skateboard rack and I have recently gotten into 3D printing to expand my skillset.

My capstone project is the Dyna-Sense, a handheld non-invasive intracranial pressure (ICP) measurement device that employs the method of ophthalmodynamometry. This device offers an alternative to current invasive ICP measurement methods that are highly dangerous and expensive. It also makes ICP measurement accessible in healthcare settings outside of hospitals where it isn't currently possible. This was the most challenging but fulfilling project I've ever undertaken and I'm proud to present it to you.

Get in contact:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 0404 883 558

1/2. Capstone Project: Dyna-Sense - Handheld Non-invasive ICP Measurement Device

1/2. ViscoSpec - Point of Care Blood Rheology Device

2/2. ViscoSpec - Point of Care Blood Rheology Device

2/2. Capstone Project: Dyna-Sense - Handheld Non-invasive ICP Measurement Device

1/1. Mahua Nut Cracker - Prototyping of a nut cracker and sorter for poor rural communities in India

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.