Mrs Melanie Finger
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Design
Biography
Melanie Finger is a Senior Lecturer in Transdisciplinary Design and the Academic Lead Engagement for the School of Design (QUT).Melanie develops impactful design curricula and champions online portfolio development in the School of Design.
She brokers key Industry partnerships and connects academia with industry, creating job opportunities and fostering long-term partnerships.
Melanie has over 20 years Fashion Industry experience in Local, National and International clothing design and manufacture. She has extensive experience in Product Design, Sourcing, Trend Forecasting, Production, Selling, Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
Personal details
Positions
- Senior Lecturer in Transdisciplinary Design
Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice,
School of Design
Keywords
Transdisciplinary Design, Design for Social Good, Design for Impact, Portfolio development for Employment, Teaching Large-Scale Transdisciplinary Design, Design Education for Social Impact
Research field
Design, Other built environment and design
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Diploma of Applied Fashion Design & Technology (Technical & Further Education)
- Diploma of Arts (Fashion) (Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE)
Teaching
2005-2007 Fashion Design (2nd Year) Unit Coordinator
2013-2019 Fashion Product Development Unit Coordinator
2019- on Impact Lab Unit Coordinator
Experience
REAL WORLD ENGAGEMENT
Melanie is passionate about providing real-world engagement opportunities in School of Design / School of Architecture and Built Environment through Impact Lab 2 and 4, for example :
QUT Students' dream designs for social impact
Students Design solutions for social good in online intensive
Students' Olympic-size challenge:What makes for a perfect stadium?
Publications
- Meth, D., Finger, M. & Brough, D. (2020). The Graduate Professional Portfolio as 'synergy tool': navigating the complex role of portfolios in future-focused design education. Proceedings of DRS 2020 Synergy: Volume 4 Education, 4, 1803–1816. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/204733
- Scharoun, L., Brough, D., Bawden, G., Finger, M., Thomson, S. & Brogden, L. (2020). Education for Social Impact Network: Building a tertiary education design alliance. Presented at: Design Research Society (UK) International Conference. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/211999
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Melanie, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2023
- Details
- Award for Programs that Enhance Learning (Curriculum Transformation and Innovative Pedagogy) for Design Impact Labs.Four innovative, authentic and transdisciplinary ‘Impact Labs’ were introduced as a compulsory spine across the reimagined Queensland University of Technology (QUT)Bachelor of Design curriculum in 2019. In response to stakeholder feedback on shifting employer and global needs, the four units,‘Place’, ‘People’, ‘Planet’ and ‘Purpose’, aim to future-proof students’ design careers.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- QUT Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence (team) for "Student Learning Excellence" (2021)For the development of four innovative, large-scale, authentic transdisciplinary Impact Lab units, allowing students to learn through experiential, inquiry-led challenges
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- GOLD AWARD Presence Learning Category - "Design for Impact"(2021)GLOBAL EDUCATION AWARD - "Design for Impact" (2021) Selected from 1350 applications, these Transdisciplinary 'Impact Labs' were awarded the main prize and $US25,000 in cash funding.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice team award for "Indigenous Australian Engagement, Success and Empowerment" (2021)For work in 2021 with Indigenous Social Enterprise "SevGen"
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2019
- Details
- QUT Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence (team) for "Excellence in the contribution to student learning and research" (2019) For the development of Impact Lab 2, that has made a meaningful contribution to more than 600 first-year work integrated learning experiences across seven study areas through six direct community partnerships.
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- QUT Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (2017) Awarded for work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) leading two QUT International Grants for the Australia-Korea Foundation