Keynote Speakers

Keynote A | 10:00 AM, Day 1
Capstone Projects in Sustainability as Passion Projects

Capstone projects in industrial design focusing on sustainability encourage students to embark on deeply personal, transformative journeys. By prioritizing self-discovery over traditional knowledge delivery, these projects become passion-driven inquiries. This paper examines three such projects. The first student, inspired by climate protests, explored narratives of climate justice across rural and urban Australia. The second, after a career break, reflected on ecosystem restoration and the designer’s role in environmental renewal. The third, combining engineering and design, pursued carbon capture as a means of integrating sustainability with technological innovation.These projects transcend transactional design practices and reject savior-complex narratives, positioning students as reflective contributors to global sustainability discourse. They demonstrate how self-driven, future-oriented design pedagogy fosters a deeper connection to sustainability, enabling students to craft meaningful, situated contributions to their field and their identity as designers.

Prof. Soumitri Varadrajan
Professor
RMIT Melbourne
Social Innovation
Industrial Design

Keynote A | 10:00 AM, Day 1
Capstone Projects in Sustainability as Passion Projects

Capstone projects in industrial design focusing on sustainability encourage students to embark on deeply personal, transformative journeys. By prioritizing self-discovery over traditional knowledge delivery, these projects become passion-driven inquiries. This paper examines three such projects. The first student, inspired by climate protests, explored narratives of climate justice across rural and urban Australia. The second, after a career break, reflected on ecosystem restoration and the designer’s role in environmental renewal. The third, combining engineering and design, pursued carbon capture as a means of integrating sustainability with technological innovation.These projects transcend transactional design practices and reject savior-complex narratives, positioning students as reflective contributors to global sustainability discourse. They demonstrate how self-driven, future-oriented design pedagogy fosters a deeper connection to sustainability, enabling students to craft meaningful, situated contributions to their field and their identity as designers.

Prof. Soumitri Varadrajan
Professor
RMIT Melbourne
Social Innovation
Industrial Design

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