Professor Glenda Caldwell
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Architecture & Built Environment
Biography
Dr Glenda Amayo Caldwell is a Professor in Architecture and the Academic Lead Research in the School of Architecture & Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology. Glenda is the Associate Director Research Training for the ARC Australian Cobotics Centre and a Chief investigator in the centre’s Designing Socio-Technical Robotic Systems program of research. She is an architecture and design scholar with internationally recognised expertise in physical, digital, and robotic fabrication, leading Industry 4.0 innovation through human-centred research in human-robot collaboration, design robotics, media architecture, and human-building interaction. Her research sits at the cross section of architecture and interaction design where she: (1) integrates human, social, and technical considerations into robotic processes and industrial manufacturing; and, (2) uses a ‘Research-through-Design’ approach to engage industry and communities in a reflexive conversation about creativity, architectural innovation and how we might collaboratively solve societal and environmental challenges and harness future opportunities. Prof Caldwell is co-leader of the QUT Human-Building Interaction research group, a chief investigator in the QUT Design Lab, and a design expert at the ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Hub. She was a chief investigator in the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Center (IMCRC) Design Robotics for Mass Customisation Manufacturing project in collaboration with UAP and RMIT (2017-2021). Originally from the USA, Prof. Caldwell completed a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the University of Michigan, Anne Arbor, MI in 2001. In 2005 she commenced her Masters in Architecture at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-ARC) in Los Angeles where her interest in computational design and digital fabrication were initiated. Glenda finalised the Masters of Architecture degree at the Florida International University (FIU) in Miami in 2008. She completed her PhD on Media Architecture in 2016 at QUT. Since 2009 Glenda has been teaching Architectural Design studios, Research Strategies in Design, Introduction to Visualisation, and Architectural History in the undergraduate and graduate courses at QUT.Career History
- 2023 to present, Professor in Architecture, School of Architecture & Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, QUT
- 2023 to present, Associate Director Research Training, ARC Australian Cobotics Centre, QUT
- 2021 to present Academic Lead Research, School of Architecture & Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, QUT
- 2020 Associate Professor in Architecture, School of Architecture & Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, QUT
- 2017-2020 Senior Lecturer in Architecture, School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT
- 2010-2017 Lecturer in Architecture, School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT
- 2009-2010 Associate Lecturer in Architecture, School of Design, Faculty of Science and Engineering, QUT
- 2008 Architectural Designer, Monad Architects, Miami, FL
- 2007 Tutor, Computer Practice in Design II, Masters Unit, Florida International University
- 2006-2007 Architectural Graduate, Claudio Noriega Architect, AIA, Miami FL.
- 2001 Architectural Intern, 9 Espai Arquitectos, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- 2001 Architectural Design Assistant, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- 2021 & 2023 Media Architecture Biennale (MAB20), Academic Papers Co-Chair & Awards Juror.
- 2022 Design Robotics project awarded the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Award for Industry Engagement.
- 2020 Design Robotics project awarded the CRC Association Excellence in Innovation Award, Collaborate Innovate Conference, Canberra.
- 2020 OzCHI Doctoral Consortium Co-Chair.
- 2020 Invited Speaker Hames Sharley Architects, National Speakers Program, Brisbane.
- 2018 VC Award for Excellence QUT, Research
- 2018 Woodfordia Invited Speaker -“Designing the Future with Artificial Intelligence”which was broadcast on ABC RN Big Ideas program on 19 February 2019. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/designing-the-future-with-artificial-intelligence/10794690
- 2018 TedXQUT Speaker - “Why art and design should be at the forefront of robotic research” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Auba4d44u8A
- 2017 VC Performance Award QUT, Research
- 2017 Co-editor Special Issue, Pervasive Participation – New Horizons for Citizen Involvement and User Experience, Journal of Interaction Design & Architecture(s)
- 2016 Co-editor Digital Futures and the City of Today: New Technologies and Physical Spaces. Mediated Cities Series. Intellect Ltd, Bristol, England.
- 2016 Student volunteers co-chair, Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS)
- 2016 Student volunteers co-chair, Media Architecture Biennale
- 2016 Engagement and Innovation Grant - Designing the Aerie, Queensland University of Technology
- 2015 QUT John Hartley Oxford Internet Institute Summer Doctoral Programme Scholarship
- 2015 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence, Queensland University of Technology
- 2014 Engagement and Innovation Grant - Designing the Past- Recording the Future: The InstaBooth for Situated Community Engagement, Queensland University of Technology
- 2012 Engagement and Innovation Grant - Urban Informatics and Participatory Design for Community Engagement in South Bank, Queensland University of Technology
- 2009 Early Career Academic Research Development Program, Queensland University of Technology
Personal details
Positions
- Professor in Design
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Architecture & Built Environment
Keywords
Architecture, Design Robotics, Collaborative Robotics, Human Building Interaction, Media Architecture, Digital Fabrication
Research field
Architecture, Design
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology)
- Master of Architecture (Florida International University)
Teaching
Teaching Focus
- Research Strategies in Design - DYN102
- Create and Represent Form - DYB111
- Fourth Year Architectural Design - DAH710
- Introduction to Visualisation 2 - DAB203
- Introduction to Design History - DEB202
Experience
- 2023 to present, Professor in Architecture, School of Architecture & Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, QUT
- 2023 to present, Associate Director Research Training, ARC Australian Cobotics Centre, QUT
- 2021 Academic Lead Research, School of Architecture & Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, QUT
- 2020 Associate Professor in Architecture, School of Architecture & Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, QUT
- 2017-2020 Senior Lecturer in Architecture, School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT
- 2010-2017 Lecturer in Architecture, School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty, QUT
- 2009-2010 Associate Lecturer in Architecture, School of Design, Faculty of Science and Engineering, QUT
- 2008 Architectural Designer, Monad Architects, Miami, FL
- 2007 Tutor, Computer Practice in Design II, Masters Unit, Florida International University
- 2006-2007 Architectural Graduate, Claudio Noriega Architect, AIA, Miami FL.
- 2001 Architectural Intern, 9 Espai Arquitectos, Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- 2001 Architectural Design Assistant, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Publications
- Fieuw, W., Foth, M. & Caldwell, G. (2022). Towards a more-than-human approach to smart and sustainable urban development: Designing for multispecies justice. Sustainability, 14(2). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227421
- Caldwell, G., Fredericks, J., Hespanhol, L., Chamorro-Koc, M., Barajas, M. & Andre, M. (2021). Putting the people back into the 'smart': Developing a middle-out framework for engaging citizens. In A. Aurigi & N. Odendaal (Eds.), Shaping Smart for Better Cities: Rethinking and Shaping Relationships Between Urban Space and Digital Technologies (pp. 239–266). Academic Press. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208054
- Gonsalves, K., Foth, M. & Caldwell, G. (2021). Radical Placemaking: Utilizing Low-Tech AR/VR to engage in Communal Placemaking during a Pandemic. Interaction Design and Architecture(s), 48(48), 143–164. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208048
- Swann, L., Rittenbruch, M., Kelly, N., Santo, Y., Garcia Hansen, V., Volz, K., Belek Fialho Teixeira, M., Pham, K., Caldwell, G. & Seevinck, J. (2021). A user-centred focus on augmented reality and virtual reality in AEC: Opportunities and barriers identified by industry professionals. PROJECTIONS: Proceedings of the 26th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) 2021, Volume 2, 273–283. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/209596
- Stewart, C., Caldwell, G., Belek Fialho Teixeira, M. & Roberts, J. (2020). Robotics and artificial intelligence in architecture: What skills will architects need in 2050? In G. Hearn (Ed.), The Future of Creative Work: Creativity and Digital Disruption (pp. 108–122). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/205547
- Loh, S., Foth, M., Caldwell, G., Garcia-Hansen, V. & Thomson, M. (2020). A more-than-human perspective on understanding the performance of the built environment. Architectural Science Review, 63(3-4), 372–383. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/197359
- Fredericks, J., Caldwell, G., Foth, M. & Tomitsch, M. (2019). The city as perpetual beta: Fostering systemic urban acupuncture. In M. de Waal & M. de Lange (Eds.), The hackable city: Digital media and collaborative city-making in the network society (pp. 67–92). Springer. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/107240
- Fialho Leandro Alves Teixeira, M., Fialho Teixeira, F., Donovan, J., Caldwell, G. & Burden, A. (2019). RoboBlox [Visual Art Work]. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/225601
- Foth, M. & Caldwell, G. (2018). More-than-human media architecture. Proceedings of the 4th Media Architecture Biennale Conference, 66–75. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/121705
- Caldwell, G., Smith, C. & Clift, E. (2016). Digital Futures and the City of Today: New Technologies and Physical Spaces. Intellect Ltd. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/101816
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Glenda, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- 2022: Design Robotics project awarded the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Award for Industry Engagement.The catalyst for the Design Robotics project was a visit by UAP to QUT to see whether robotic technologies could be applied to their highly bespoke manufacturing operations. As world-leading supplier of products and manufacturing services into the global market for iconic architecture, design, and art projects, UAP provides R&D, design, production, and installation services internationally. UAP’s clients increasingly demand mass-customised products, such as complex building façade elements, interior panelling systems, and large-scale public artworks, which cannot be produced with traditional robotic manufacturing techniques.UAP required advances in robotic vision and robotic fabrication to make robotic mass-customisation manufacture possible, where no two pieces are the same. Involving researchers in Design, Architecture, Robotics and Engineering from QUT and RMIT,
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2020
- Details
- Cooperative Research Centre Association’s 2020 Award for Excellence in InnovationIn 2020 the Innovative Manufacturing CRC funded project, Design Robotics was awarded the CRC Association Excellence in Innovation Award, at the CollaborateInnovate Conference, Canberra.
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2023
- Details
- I am an associate editor for Springer's Journal on Construction Robotics. In 2022 I co-edited a special issue on Collaborative Robotics.
Selected research projects
- Title
- ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Collaborative Robotics in Advanced Manufacturing
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- IC200100001
- Start year
- 2021
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Markus Rittenbruch - Robotically Fabricated Bio-Inspired Lightweight Structure
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Muge Fialho Leandro Alves Teixeira, Associate Professor Jared Donovan - Robotic Additive Manufacturing Using Eco-friendly materials 'Towards Sustainable Robotic Architecture'
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Muge Fialho Leandro Alves Teixeira, Associate Professor Jared Donovan, Dr Tatheer Zahra - PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Muge Fialho Leandro Alves Teixeira - A design-led approach to support robot-based rehabilitation of hand grasp function at home
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Marianella Chamorro-Koc, Associate Professor Muge Fialho Leandro Alves Teixeira
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- radical placemaking: An Experiential Digital Placemaking Approach for Social Justice (2023)
- Affordances in Collaborative Robotic Production for Artisan Crafts and Hybrid Design (2022)
- Designing Media Architecture with virtual reality in Architecture Studio Education (2022)
- Digitally Crafted Community Futures: A Distributed Approach to Remedial Craft for Community Empowerment (2021)
- Place-Oriented Design: A Framework for Designing Interactive Installations for Public Spaces (2021)
- From Product to Process and Site to System: Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Design in Architecture Education (2020)
- Being Me on Instagram: How Indonesian Hijabers Reframed the Nexus of Piety and Modernity (2019)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.