Elise Wilkin

Product Design Engineering

Hi, my name is Elise Wilkin.

During my time at Swinburne University I have studied Systems Engineering and Product Design Engineering. In these courses I have worked on many different types of projects and in many different roles. I have really enjoyed working in teams on end to end projects, including designing solutions, making functioning prototypes, building and testing final products and report writing.

Outside of my degree, I have been involved in many different Swinburne clubs (Tango club - secretary and president, Cheer and Dance, Design Collective) as well as coaching and captaining soccer. I have also continued to coach gymnastics at my old school (Melbourne Girls Grammar), and volunteer with Engineers without Borders.

My final year research project was based on STEM education within schools. I have always been fascinated with puzzles, codes and riddles, and found from my research that the thinking process for these are the same as that required for STEM. Working with primary and high school teachers I designed and built a gamified learning tool. This included the physical puzzles, example ciphers, assembly instructions and an example lesson plan to enable the product to be integrated into the Australian school curriculum for year 5 to 8 students. This product and some of my other work is shown below.

Critex Learning Tool

Critex with Students

Critex

Bowling Ball Cannon with Tikkun Olam Makers

Daphne Tap

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.