Aalia Shaikh

Product Design Engineering

I am Aalia Shaikh and I am a final year engineering student, majoring in Product Design. Within this degree, I have tackled various types of design briefs and learned of multiple ways to approach problems and deliver resolved solutions.

For my final year project, I have researched humanitarian logistics and found that the last mile distribution is an overlooked end point of the dynamic humanitarian relief supply chain. This is the point at which beneficiaries directly receive much needed aid goods such as rice, grains and lentils among others. Currently, aid workers are manually handling large 50 kg sacks of food to ensure they reach the beneficiaries.

While most issues across the humanitarian relief supply chain can be solved by drawing upon commercial supply chain management principles, the same cannot be said for this critical last stage. The delivery of staple rations at the last stage is often chaotic and risky. Many labourers and volunteers, some of whom are recipients of the aid themselves, unknowingly put their health at risk as they manually handle and carry truckloads of 50 kg grain sacks without any equipment. TrolleyAid is designed to ease the distribution of humanitarian aid for aid workers.

TrolleyAid

To assist aid workers in delivering humanitarian aid efficiently, the design features a robust aluminium frame designed for dis/assembly, pneumatic tyres and a folded aluminium tray.

Clara Water Bowl

As part of a short industry project with Country Road, an upmarket hydration solution for pets was developed. The Clara Water Bowl is a fluted acrylic design featuring a hole in the reservoir through which, water flows into the bowl, and an airtight lid ensuring the water level stays at equilibrium.

Wall-Mounted Care Wash Basin with Grab Rail

For a short industry project with Avail Designs, a wall-mounted care wash basin was developed for wheelchair users. The sleek design incorporates a modified version of the existing Avail Calibre grab rail, to provide a unique experience for wheelchair users in ambulant bathrooms while travelling.

Passive Speaker

The brief asked to design a speaker fit for our phones, without the use of electronic aid, focusing on its amplification. The design features a 3D printed gramophone-inspired pocket for the phone, fixed to a folded clear acrylic 'housing'.

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.