Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Melisa is a part time Research Fellow of the Emerging Technologies Research Lab, where she leads the Future Health and Wellbeing research program and co-leads the Sustainability research theme. She is based at the Department of Design MADA. As a design researcher, her works sits at the intersection of Design Anthropology, Participatory Design and Everyday Design. Melisa’s latest projects explore healthcare and wellbeing design ethnography with ageing people in the contexts of the home, the hospital and residential aged care. Where she learns about the ways in which built design environments and technologies of care are used and adapted by people in their everyday routines. She is particularly interested in emergent practices of design for revaluing, including: the ongoing transformation by design-in-use of spaces and devices, collaborative repair, and creative crafts of reuse. Melisa’s interdisciplinary work is featured in the latest ethnographic film Smart Homes for Seniors. She is a co-author of the recent book Design Ethnography: Research, Responsibilities and Futures (Routledge, 2022), and currently working on her book Designing Homeliness: Everyday Practices of Care (Routledge).
Melisa has a PhD from the School of Design at RMIT, a Masters of Design (by research) from Monash University, and she was trained as an Industrial Designer at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (UPB) in Medellin, Colombia. She has done design teaching at these three Universities and Design Schools.
Diseñadora e investigadora colombiana viviendo en Australia. Interesada en practicas de diseño cotidiano para la revaluación y el bienestar. Trabajando actualmente con temas de salud, tecnología y revaluación.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Design Research, Doctor in Philosophy, Everyday Designing for Revaluing, RMIT University
Award Date: 27 Sept 2018
Research area keywords
- design research
- design anthropology
- ethnographic practice
- everyday design
- sustainable design
- design ethnography
- emerging technologies
- design for revaluing
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 2 Finished
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CoM P2: City of Melbourne - City Data Futures Prototype
Pink, S., Lanzeni, D., Fridman, I., Duque Hurtado, M., Sumartojo, S. & Vallentine, B.
25/02/21 → 30/06/21
Project: Research
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The Living Lab: Designing the Future of Aged Care
Clark, S., Flynn, D., Joe, K., Pink, S., McCormack, J., Mihelcic, J. & Duque Hurtado, M.
1/12/19 → 30/11/21
Project: Research
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Media Anthropology and Emerging Technologies: Re-working Media Presence
Pink, S., Strengers, Y., Duque, M., Nichols, L. & Martin, R., 2023, The Routledge Companion to Media Anthropology. Costa, E., Lange, P. G., Haynes, N. & Sinanan, J. (eds.). Oxon UK: Routledge, p. 229-241 13 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
2 Citations (Scopus) -
Design Ethnography: Research, Responsibilities, and Futures
Pink, S., Fors, V., Lanzeni, D., Duque, M., Sumartojo, S. & Strengers, Y., 2022, Oxon UK: Routledge. 237 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › Research › peer-review
18 Citations (Scopus) -
Family of Sensors: City Data Design Proposal
Pink, S., Vallentine, B., Duque Hurtado, M., Fridman, I., Lanzeni, D., Sumartojo, S., Lundberg, R., Fu, L., Kop, T. & Hearn, N., 2022Research output: Non-textual form › Design / Architecture › Research
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From Waste Management to Waste Care
Kinnunen, V. & Duque, M., 2022, Infrastructural Being: Rethinking dwelling in a naturecultural world. Valkonen, J., Kinnunen, V., Huilaja, H. & Loikkanen, T. (eds.). Cham Switzerland: Springer, p. 147-170 24 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
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Light and Value: a design anthropology of light and well-being in hospital buildings
Pink, S., Duque, M., Sumartojo, S. & Vaughan, L., 2022, Lighting Design in Shared Public Spaces. Sumartojo, S. (ed.). 1st ed. New York NY USA: Routledge, p. 43-63 21 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Research › peer-review
1 Citation (Scopus)
Prizes
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2021 9th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards, Best Ageing Research - Winner: 'Smart homes for seniors: Intelligent home design for independent living'
Pink, Sarah (Recipient), Duque Hurtado, Melisa (Recipient), Strengers, Yolande (Recipient) & Williams, Citt (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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2021 IoT (Internet of Things) Awards, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Action - Winner: 'Smart Homes for Seniors: Intelligent home design for independent living'
Strengers, Yolande (Recipient), Pink, Sarah (Recipient), Duque Hurtado, Melisa (Recipient), Martin, Rex (Recipient), Nicholls, Larissa (Recipient), Mortimer, Michael (Recipient), Horan, Ben (Recipient), Eugene, Alicia (Recipient) & Thomson, Sue (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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2023 Good Design Award, Design Research - Gold Winner: 'City Sensing Data Futures'
Pink, Sarah (Recipient), Vallentine, Bianca (Recipient), Lanzeni, Debora (Recipient), Fridman, Ilya (Recipient), Duque Hurtado, Melisa (Recipient), Sumartojo, Shanti (Recipient) & Lundberg, Robert (Recipient), 8 Sept 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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2023 Good Design Award, Design Research - Gold Winner: 'Smart Homes for Seniors'
Pink, Sarah (Recipient), Williams, Citt (Recipient), Duque Hurtado, Melisa (Recipient), Nichols, Larissa (Recipient) & Martin, Rex (Recipient), 8 Sept 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Good Design Australia Award for Design Ethnography
Pink, Sarah (Recipient), Fors, Vaike (Recipient), Lanzeni, Debora (Recipient), Duque Hurtado, Melisa (Recipient), Sumartojo, Shanti (Recipient) & Strengers, Yolande (Recipient), 8 Sept 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Press/Media
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IoT: 'Wireless technology helps reinvigorate smart city focus'
Sarah Pink, Bianca Vallentine, Melisa Duque, Ilya Fridman, Debora Lanzeni, Robert Lundberg, Shanti Sumartojo, Lisa Fu, Nicola Hearn & Tegan Kop
4/11/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Blogs, Podcasts and Social Media › Blogs
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THE FIFTH ESTATE: 'AI is watching you: How to ethically capture urban data for smart cities'
Sarah Pink, Bianca Vallentine, Melisa Duque, Ilya Fridman, Debora Lanzeni, Robert Lundberg, Shanti Sumartojo, Lisa Fu, Nicola Hearn & Tegan Kop
12/09/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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COUNCIL MAGAZINE: 'New approaches for smart cities public data-gathering'
Sarah Pink, Bianca Vallentine, Melisa Duque Hurtado, Ilya Fridman, Debora Lanzeni, Robert Lundberg, Shanti Sumartojo, Lisa Fu, Nicola Hearn & Tegan Kop
12/09/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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AGED CARE INSITE: 'New film asks if smart home tech enriches older people’s lives?'
Sarah Pink, Melisa Duque, Yolande Strengers & Citt Williams
29/11/21
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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DIGITAL INNOVATION FUTURES VICTORIA: 'The new future of ageing: Smart homes for seniors'
Sarah Pink, Melisa Duque, Yolande Strengers & Citt Williams
25/11/21
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Other