Stella Butzkueven

Product Design Engineering

I am a passionate Product Design Engineering student, excited to be graduating in 2020 and taking my next steps into the world.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my studies, finding inspiration in the intersection of imaginative design and technical engineering – in short, creative problem solving. Throughout my time at Swinburne, I have developed key skills and put them into practice. My highlights include an industry collaboration project with Phoenix Tapware to design and engineer an innovative bathroom faucet, where my asymmetrical design was shortlisted in the cohort, as well as an international exchange at Concordia University, Montreal, where I gained a reverence for the globality of the industry.

The definitive experience of my career to date was my 16-month internship in GM Holden’s design studio. I felt incredibly passionate about the work I got to contribute to, with industry-leading, global projects championing innovative technologies and user-centred design. As well as developing my passions, working at GMH elevated and diversified my skillset. It is also where I began work on the concept that would become my final year honours project.

My capstone project, LUNA, is a fully autonomous, single-occupant, electric vehicle created for an urban environment. Its goal is to offer a comfortable and exciting travel experience for every user, whilst also accommodating the needs of those who are currently unable to travel independently with ease. This has been a challenging but rewarding undertaking, and I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved.

LUNA: automotive interiors in an autonomous future

LUNA: interior environment

LUNA: design theme surface vs. engineering criteria

LUNA: wheelchair access system

LUNA: innovative and unique seat mechanism

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.