Academic Qualifications                                                

2022 PhD RMIT University

2010 Advanced Diploma of Gold and Silver-Smithing Melbourne Polytechnic

2004 Bachelor of Industrial Design (First Class Honors) Swinburne University

2003 Bachelor of Industrial Design Swinburne University 

Employment History

2024 - 26   Co-program Manager Masters of Design Technology and Innovation MDIT / RMIT University

2025‍ ‍Senior Lecturer MDIT                    

2022           Lecturer ID / MDIT                                  

2017          Associate lecturer ID / MDIT                

2011-17     Sessional Lecturer: ID                          

2014-17     Casual lecturer:  Melbourne Polytechnic silver smithing

2007-14     Sessional Design Lecturer  Swinburne University

Professional Design Experience (select)

2025 Creative director / 9th Sphere Immersive

2008- 19      Creative director / owner                          Mecurialist Jewellery

2011- 17Owner / Director / label / shop                 Stone Glint and Bone

2005- 07      Global Watch designer                              Ripcurl

Professional Awards and Distinctions

2023  MAVA art prize: Best Sustainability Award

2022  Victorian Premiers Design Awards  - Best in Category for Student Design and Special Commendation Award for Circular Design and Sustainability: Luna Modular AFO (ankle foot orthosis),

designed by Aaron Nguyen, Darren Tan, Jarrod Cahir, Dr Giuliano De Antonis and Dr Emma Luke.

2022   Good Design Award (Gold Winner) Drone Chi - Exploring the role of drones for rehabilitative movement. (Collaboration between Dr Emma Luke and Joseph La Delfa)

Teaching and collegiality Awards

Year          Details of award or distinction 

2020          School of design Peer award Collegiality and Citizenship ServDes2020

2020          School of Design Peer Teaching Award: The Goodbye studio

2020          School of design Design Dean’s Award for Resilience.

Student  Awards (taught or projects supervised)

Year   Details of award or distinction  / students I taught or supervised

2024 Industrial Design Deans award winner Makushla Harper.

2024  MDIT Major Project - Design Innovation award winner – Ranvijay Singh

2023LIT 2023 International Lighting Award (desk Lamps) Chelline Graciella Soejono.

2023 Industrial Design Deans award winner, Kate Thaus.

2022Good Design Award winner, Aaron Nguyen (honours student)

2022  VIC / TAS Industrial / Product Design Graduate of the Year, Aaron Nguyen.

2022 Victorian Premier’s Design Award Best in Category:

Student Design and Special   Commendation Award for Circular Design and Sustainability: Luna Modular AFO (ankle foot orthosis), designed by Aaron Nguyen, Darren Tan, Jarrod Cahir, Dr Giuliano De Antonis, and Emma Luke.

2021 James Dyson award winner 2021, Aaron Nguyen.

2021James Dyson award 2021 global top 20 finalist, Aaron Nguyen.

2021Certificate of distinction Industrial design, Vitoria Dahara Campos Deveza E Silva

2020Victoria Design challenge 2020, Henry Blain .

2020Taiwan international student design competition, finalist Xinchang Liu.

2020 Victorian Premier’s Design Award finalist, Xinchang Liu.

2019   Outstanding Achievement Award Industrial Design, Henry Blain.

2019Reshape design competition, Barcelona, Spain,three MDIT teams in top 10.

2019   Bio Design Challenge New York, RMIT winner Orta special prize for textile innovation.

2019   DNA Paris Design Award winner, Caroline Frey for her 2018 Honours project -  PAK.

Key Grants and Funding

2025: $2500 The Australian Council of University Art and design schools (ACUAS) ‘Translations: Design Education with Machine Learning Models’.

2024: $2000 School of Design SRC funding - Data Mandalas / City of Melbourne Assembly point vitrines exhibition

2023: $2000 School of Design SRC funding – Impermanent exhibition 2023 - $2000

2023: $2,990.86 EIP Platform activity Fund 2023 Redcross Lifeblood / RMIT Co-design workshop

2022: $9,588.00 Innovation proof of concept fund -Design development for Medical Dry Eye diagnosis device platform.

2022: $3000 ECP platform Activity Funding- W+SN network regen event Sept 2022.

2022: $1000 SOD HDR higher degree completion grant

2021/22 $20,000 BAHNC Contract Research - Porous borders Funder Reference: CON-RM-0200322417Community Furniture project & Design Studio 2021-  

2021: $8000 Victorian Department of Education 2021 / Grant RMIT/DATTA VIC

2021: $1900 School research committee grant (SRC funding): Crypto Mori Radiant Pavilion

2019: $750 BHI ECP funding to attend Frontiers of Science: Redefining Healthy Ageing conference, Adelaide.

2019: $2500 SRC fundingAugmented Attention Wearable Design Lab as part of the Sensorium festival and conference, Bratislava, Slovakia

Conference Papers

Delfa JL, Garrett R, Jarvis R, Luke E, Lampinen A, Höök K, ‘Demonstrating how to train your drone’, ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction. 1788-1790. 01 Jan 2025

 Akama Y, Anich J, Avendano Franco A, Choi J, Fennessy L, Foley M, Heiss L, Ivanka T, Luke E, Page R. How are we here? A reflexive story of colonising’ Participatory Design Conference 2022, Newcastle, UK, 19 Aug 2022 - 01 Sep 2022. ACM Digital Library, United Kingdom. 26-35. 01 Jan 2022

 Baytas, M., La Delfa, J., Koder, B., Luke, E. Mueller, F. 2020. ‘Designing Drone Chi’ Unpacking

the thinking and making behind somaesthetic human- drone interaction. DIS 2020, Designing interactive systems ACM conference. Eindhoven, Netherlands - DIS’20: July 6–10, 2020.

Books

Widdicombe J, Daile Sumner T, O'Neil C, Luke E, Heiss L, Bush M, Hensch W, Jong E, Linis-Dinco J, Lander L Editors: Tyne DS. 1st: 22-25.  Instruments of surveillance, National Communication Museum, Naarm/ Melbourne Australia.

Engagement Activities

2025 Juror for - The Victorian Premier’s Design Awards.

2025 Reviewer – Human Robot Interaction (HRI) conference.

2024 Reviewer – Design Research Society (DRS) conference.  

2020 Reviewer – Service Design 2020 conference / Tensions Paradoxes and Plurality.

2023 SPOSAD MOE scholarship program for Overseas study in Art and design Tainan, Taiwan.

2020 Service Design 2020 conference Co-chair, Graduate Forum.

2019 Design Foundation program Tsinghua University, Beijing

Key Notes / Talks and panels

2024  CEIQ AI show case – genAI in design education at RMIT

2024 ACMD-VMH  Showcase: Innovations in Medical Technology.

2024- MDIT 10 year symposium Wearable Technologies keynote, Melbourne Connect.  

2023- The future of wearables, 2024 MOE scholarship program for Overseas study in Art and design in Tainan, Taiwan.

2022- Design and Life, Cubex 41 virtual panel

2022- Melbourne design week 2022: Post Digital Objects / RMIT Design Archives (presented by RMIT academics Emma Luke, Kate Geck & Judith Glover). Organised and facilitated Melbourne Design Week 2022 design research discussion panel: Wearables, digital ethics, and sustainability.

2021- DATTA VIC virtual conference 2021.

2021- Melbourne Design Week 2021 event, titled Industrial Design: Design Evolution in the Archives April 2021.

2020- HTL Open labs online - A health system transformation talk – Design for a good death.

2019- The Friends for Good Loneliness Symposium, Racv Club, Melbourne

Creative Works (select)

2026- Light Wave Festival Tasmania - projection mapping Visuals

2026- Novel / Small Town and Industrique - VJ

2026- Flow Ecstatic Dance Yarra Ranges - VJ

2026 -Lumina Sound healing - Clontopia - VJ projections

2026- Rainbow Spirit Festival - VJ Horizon stage

2025 - Matsuri Night Market Strawberry Fields

2025 -Underland Syn City Dome activation - projection

2025 - Melbourne design week:Collective Curriculum exhibition, Melbourne University

2024-  Instruments or Surveillance: National Communications Museum, Hawthorn (NCM)

2024 –City Of Melbourne Creative Spaces, Assembly Point Vitrines; Data Mandalas

2024- Tanglewood New Years Eve. projection Tangled Temple stage

2024 – (“Generative Ecologies: Design Imaginaries with AI” Melbourne Design Week)

2023 - Melbourne design week:IM-PERMANENTco – curator: Abbotsford convent

Collaboration between RMIT industrial Design and Ellis Jones.

2022 -  Melbourne design week: Post Digital Objects / RMIT Design Archives

2022 CaT Pin / Future U exhibition RMIT Gallery June 2021

2021 - Radiant Pavilion Contemporary Jewellery and Object symposium - Data Heirlooms

2021 CaT Pin / Crafting Technology exhibition ANAD Jamm Factory Adelaide

2020 CaT Pin - Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Cross University / International Research collaborations

Research LeadCODE RMIT

Wearables and sensing Network (W+SN) codirector.

VVet & VVild research group (school of Design RMIT).

Data heirlooms (cross university – RMIT, Swinburne, Monash).

Post-digital Pedagogies - genAI in design education (RMIT, Monash).

Enantiomorph study (RMIT, TU GRATZ).

Drone Chi – somaesthetic HCI for movement and rehabilitation (RMIT, KTH Sweden).