CLEMS (Conference Links and Event Management Services)Keynote Speakers
ConnectED 2010 will feature prominent keynote speakers from around the globe. Recognized for their unique multi-disciplinary design education methods, keynotes will present on a range of design disciplines including engineering, multimedia, industrial design, architecture and fine arts. Please check regularly for updates as keynote speakers confirm their participation.
Amanda Breytenbach
Vice Dean, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Johannesburg, SA and President, Design Education Forum of Southern Africa (DEFSA)- Amanda Breytenbach is the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA) at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. She is currently the President of the Design Education Forum of Southern Africa (DEFSA), of which she has been a member of the Executive Committee for over 10 years, and is a member of the Education Committee that forms part of the South African Institute of the Interior Design Professions (IID). Although she has studied Architecture as a first degree, she has actively taken part in the development and promotion of the Interior Design discipline since 1999. Over the past 10 years, she has also gained considerable knowledge and experience in the areas of; programme curriculation and development, quality assurance, policy development and implementation as well as Higher Education management. Currently her interest and research focus have shifted towards the development and implementation of postgraduate research in emergent design disciplines in South Africa.
Gráinne Conole
Professor of E-Learning in the Institute of Educational Technology at the Open University in the UK-
Gráinne's research interests include the use, integration and evaluation of Information and Communication Technologies and e-learning and the impact of technologies on organisational change. She heads up a new research programme of activity within IET, ‘Learning in an Open World”. Two of her current areas of interest are how learning design can help in creating more engaging learning activities and on Open Educational Resources research. Updates on current research and reflections on e-learning research generally can be found on her blog www.e4innovation.com. She has lead on the creation of a new social networking site for facilitating the sharing and discussion of learning and teaching ideas and designs, cloudworks.ac.uk.
She has extensive research, development and project management experience across the educational and technical domains; funding sources have included the EU, HEFCE, ESRC, JISC and commercial sponsors). She serves on and chairs a number of national and international advisory boards, steering groups, committees and international conference programmes. She has published and presented over 300 conference proceedings, workshops and articles, including over 100 publications on a range of topics, including the use and evaluation of learning technologies. She is co-editor of the RoutledgeFalmer book ‘Contemporary perspectives on e-learning research’. 
Kees Dorst
Professor of Design and Associate Dean Research
Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney- Kees Dorst was trained as an Industrial Design Engineer at Delft University of Technology. He has worked as a product designer for various design firms and as a researcher, he has studied the ways in which designers work. Currently, he is Professor of Design and Associate Dean Research at the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building of the University of Technology, Sydney and a Senior Researcher in design studies at Eindhoven University of Technology. He has published numerous articles and four books – most recently the book ‘Design Expertise’ (2009), with Bryan Lawson.
Susan Finger
Director of Engineering Design Research Centre, Carnegie Mellon University, USA- Dr Finger is also affiliated with the School of Architecture and the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems. Susan received her B.A. in Astronomy and M.A. in Operations Research from the University of Pennsylvania and her Ph.D. in Electric Power Systems through Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was the first program director for Design Theory and Methodology at the National Science Foundation. She is a founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Research in Engineering Design. Dr. Finger's research interests include collaborative learning in design, rapid prototyping, and integration of design and manufacturing concerns.
Roger Hadgraft
Associate Professor, Director, Engineering Learning Unit, The University of Melbourne- Roger Hadgraft is a civil engineer with more than 15 years involvement in improving engineering education. He has published many papers in the area, with a particular focus on problem/project-based learning (PBL) and the use of online learning technology to support student-directed learning. He was instrumental in introducing a project-based curriculum into civil engineering at Monash University, commencing in 1998, and at RMIT in civil, chemical and environmental engineering from 2002-6. Roger has consulted on PBL to universities both nationally and internationally. He has been a member of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE) Executive since 2001 and was its 2008 President. He is the Director of the Engineering Learning Unit at the University of Melbourne where he assists in the introduction of the new Melbourne Model in engineering, supporting new project-based learning courses and new learning spaces and improving teaching quality across the Melbourne School of Engineering. He has also been involved in issues of sustainability for the last five years, introducing new undergraduate subjects and a Master’s program based on adult learning principles. He is one of two ALTC (Australian Learning and Teaching Council) Discipline Scholars for Engineering and Technology in 2009-10 and is involved in several ALTC projects. He has a particular interest in identifying graduate attributes for engineers, teaching them through authentic learning situations and the use of appropriate assessment tools. He chaired the 2009 international Research in Engineering Education Symposium.
Larry Leifer
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Design Division Director, Stanford Center for Design Research, USA- Larry Leifer is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering Design and founding Director of the Center for Design Research (CDR) at Stanford University. A member of the faculty since 1976, he teaches the industry sponsored master's course ME310, "Global Project-Based Engineering Design, Innovation, and Development;" a thesis seminar, "Design Theory and Methodology Forum;" and a freshman seminar "Designing the Human Experience." Research themes include: 1) creating collaborative engineering design environments for distributed product innovation teams; 2) instrumentation of that environment for design knowledge capture, indexing, reuse, and performance assessment; and 3), design-for-sustainable-wellbeing. His top development priority in the moment is the Hasso Plattner Design-Thinking-Research Program and associated “Electronic Colloquium on Design Thinking Research,” a peer commentary journal.
Thomas D. Meier
President, Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and President of Artschools Switzerland.- 2003-2009 Director of Bern University of the Arts. 1996-2003 Director of the Museum of Communication Bern. Degree course in History and English and American Literature, PhD in History. Various activities in cultural and educational policy and international networks.
Dr Kevin Murray
Adjunct Professor RMIT University, Research Fellow University of Melbourne and Adjunct Research Fellow Monash University- Kevin Murray was previously Director of Craft Victoria where he developed the South Project and the Scarf Festival. He has curated many shows, including 'Signs of Change: Jewellery Designed for a Better World'; 'the World of Small Things'; 'Symmetry: Crafts Meet Kindred Trades and Professions'; 'Water Medicine: Precious Works for an Arid Continent'; 'Guild Unlimited: Ten Jewellers Make Insignia for Potential Guilds'; 'Seven Sisters: Fibre Works from the West'; and 'Common Goods: Cultures Meet through Craft' for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. His books include 'Craft Unbound: Make the Common Precious' (Thames & Hudson, 2005). He is currently online editor for the Journal of Modern Craft and coordinator of Southern Perspectives, a south-south intellectual network. He is writing a history of Australian & New Zealand jewellery. More information is at www.kitezh.com.
Wendy Sarkissian
Adjunct Associate Professor, Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute and Adjunct Professor, School of Sustainable Development, Bond University- Social planner and environmental ethicist, Dr Wendy Sarkissian, is a planner who seeks spirited ways to nurture an engaged citizenry. She has recently coauthored three Earthscan books: Kitchen Table Sustainability: Practical Recipes for Community Engagement with Sustainability (2009). SpeakOut (2009) and Creative Community Planning: Transformative Engagement Methods for Working at the Edge (2010). Wendy is committed to finding spirited ways to nurture and support an engaged citizenry. Initially trained as an educator, she holds a Masters of Arts, a Master of Town Planning and a PhD in environmental ethics and has worked as a social planning consultant in Australia since 1981. Wendy is Adjunct Associate Professor at the Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute and Adjunct Professor in the School of Sustainable Development, Bond University. She is a Fellow of the Planning Insitute of Australia and lives in a small eco-community in rural New South Wales.
- Alan Saunders
Presenter, By Design Program, ABC Radio National, Sydney 
Alec Tzannes
Professor and Dean of the Faculty of the Built Environment, University of NSW- Alec Tzannes is a graduate of the University of Sydney obtaining the John Sulman Prize for Architectural Design, 1st Class Honours and the University Medal (1976) followed by a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University (1978). He has undertaken further study at the Parsons School of Design and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in the City of New York (1977-78). He is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and was National President in 2007-08. He holds Honorary Memberships of the American Institute of Architects, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and an Honorary Fellowship of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. He combines his role at the university with professional practice. As Design Director at Tzannes Associates he has been integral to projects in architecture and urban design that have received over forty industry awards including the Robin Boyd (1997, 1988) Wilkinson (1988,1989,1997) and Blackett (1998) awards from the Australian Institute of Architects.